Where I Stood
by The Night Lord
Summary: Buffy season 3 AU. Based on the Missy Higgins song. Buffy has broken up with Angel, but continues to wonder if what she's done is right. Meanwhile, Angel is hurt by Buffy's actions, as Cordelia tries to help him move on from the Slayer. Please R
1. Where I Stood 1

I thought I try my hand at something else. It's set during Season 3, after 'Lover's Walk', but before 'Amends' and it's somewhat AU. Also, it's a Buffy/Angel/Cordelia fic. Hope you enjoy

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Her heart filled with much pain and sorrow. She knew she couldn't deny herself any longer. She couldn't believe that it had all come down to this. But no matter how much it hurt, she knew it was for the best. She hoped it was for the best. The words rang in her head, over and over. And she knew them to be true. This was the only way she could think of to settle this mess. And hopefully, she would be able to move on. It was for the best. That's what she kept telling herself. She clung to that. She didn't want to do this, but it couldn't keep going. There was too much pain and hurt to sort through. Doing this was the only way she could have herself a clear mind and heart. And maybe, in the end, she could take it all back and everything would be perfect. Everything would be fine, but this had to happen first

"I'm sorry, Angel," Buffy said, trying to hold the tears back, "But what we have can't keep happening. I can fool my friends, my Mom, but I can't fool myself"

"Buffy, what are you saying?" Angel asked, his dead heart hammering in his chest, afraid of what was coming next

"It's over, Angel. I'm sorry. We can't keep seeing each other"

Afraid of the tears spilling over, Buffy turned on her heel and quickly left the mansion. Angel stood rooted to the spot, a thousand thoughts flashing through his mind as it tried to come to grips with what had just happened. Buffy had left him. She didn't want to be with him anymore. Angel slowly sat down next to the fireplace, feeling the pain well up in his heart and the tears in his eyes. He still couldn't believe it. The love of his life had just left him. Possibly forever. He couldn't exactly blame her. He had tried to kill her the previous year, granted it was his evil half, but it was still him all the same. He had gone to hell and back and was trying to give their relationship another try, but it had been difficult due to the curse

Buffy arrived back to her home about an hour later, walking slowly from the mansion, her mind numb from what she had done. A vampire had tried to take her for easy pickings, but Buffy staked him and moved on. When she reached her bedroom, she simply collapsed on the bed, curling up into a ball and letting the tears fall

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Angel was still seated next to the fireplace, a numb look on his face. What had just happened came as a shock to him. Who is he kidding? He knew their relationship wouldn't last, no matter what he told himself. And it all came down to him, what he had done the previous year. It was the loss of his soul that led to their break-up. They could try all they want to keep their relationship alive, but it was his curse that was holding them back. His curse that had ruined everything

"Buffy, are you okay?" came Joyce's voice

"I'm fine, Mom. Just tired," Buffy replied

She didn't want her mother to see her tear-stained face. Didn't want to talk about what she had just done, even if she felt it was for the better until such a time they could be together again. She allowed herself some comfort when she remembered that she wouldn't be seeing Angel much during the day and hardly at all at night

"Did you want anything?" Joyce continued

"No, thanks, Mom, I'll be right"

Buffy heard her mother walk away and collapsed her head back onto the wet pillow. She had cried all of her tears out, so she could only just sniffle as she thought about earlier, how broken Angel looked when she told him the news. How broken his heart must have been. Just like hers and she was the one who broke it. She didn't like the feeling very much as she continued to lie there, heartbreak aching throughout her

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"Buffy, is everything alright?"

Buffy looked up at her Watcher, before looking at her friends. They all had a concerned look on their faces, a look she didn't want to see from her friends. She didn't want any pity or sympathy. She didn't want any of that. She wanted them all to go away and leave her alone to wallow in her misery. But she couldn't do that. All she could do right now was deflect them away from her sorrow

"I'm fine. What were we talking about?"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Giles asked

"Yes, I'm fine. Now, can we please continue?"

"Yes, very well then…"

Buffy tuned out as Giles droned on about something or other. She wasn't interested in listening. She had lost a part of herself. More like she cut out a piece of her heart and tossed it to the wolves. The piece that contained Angel. She couldn't be with him now. Couldn't see him anymore. Can't think about him. Well, she was trying to keep her mind off him, but it was difficult. He had been her first love, possibly her soul mate. But she couldn't be with him, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted him now, but she had thrown that away. Thrown their relationship away

"You look like you've lost your best friend," Xander said as they were leaving the library, "It's not me, Willow or Oz, so you haven't lost your best friend"

"More like a favourite puppy," Willow said, "But you don't have a puppy"

"So, why the long face, Buff?"

"It's nothing, guys. I'll be fine, really. Just had a bad night"

"Slaying?" Willow asked

"More or less," Buffy said, "Well, I'm hungry. Let's go"

"We all Bronzing tonight?" Xander asked, "Cause I'll be there"

Maybe a night out at the Bronze wouldn't be so bad. Might lift her spirits. Just a night out with her friends. No Angel. It would be good. Everything would work out

"Yeah, sure," Buffy said with a small smile, "Count me in"

"Oz is playing tonight," Willow said, "And being the dutiful girlfriend that I am"

"Three's a company," Xander said, "I like. I'll be out with the coolest girls in town"

Buffy and Willow smiled as Xander slung his arms around their shoulders and headed with them to the cafeteria

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The Bronze was packed. Dingoes Ate My Baby was currently playing, as Buffy, Willow and Xander made their way to their usual table. The Slayer was looking forward to having a good night with her friends. She didn't want to worry about Angel or slaying tonight. Tonight, she just wanted to have some fun

"Cordelia is here," Willow said, pointing the brunette out, "Should we hide?"

"What for?" Buffy asked, "It's just Cordelia. Who cares about her?"

"Well…actually, never mind," Xander said, "Who wants to dance? I do"

"I'll come with," Willow agreed, "Wanna dance, Buffy?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just sit here and sit here"

Xander and Willow headed out onto the dance floor with the other patrons, as Buffy stayed at the table and watched them enjoy themselves. She felt a little bit lonely. Usually, she would be out on patrol with Angel or Faith, but since she had broken up with Angel, she couldn't bear to see him for a while yet. And as for Faith, well, she would be out there on patrol anyway, enjoying her slaying

Just then, she felt a presence and looked over her shoulder. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Angel was here at the Bronze. He was currently sitting at the bar, a drink in his hands. None of the other patrons were bothering him. Buffy swallowed, unsure of what to do. So far, he hadn't noticed her or he already had, but was simply ignoring her. She wanted him to look over his shoulder at her, but at the same time, she didn't. This was very different for her. She had no idea how to handle this. He was sitting across the Bronze from her. All he had to do was look around and she would feel like a deer caught in the headlights. Buffy felt like she was trapped and needed to get out. She quickly left the table; heading towards the door, making sure that Angel didn't see her and ended up running into Cordelia

"What's your damage?" Cordelia demanded

"Sorry, Cor, didn't see you there," Buffy said

"Pfft, whatever"

Cordelia stepped around Buffy and headed off towards the dance floor, as Buffy left the Bronze, took a few deep breathes and headed off towards the nearest cemetery

"Where did Buffy go?" Xander asked

"She got this worried look and then took off," Willow said

She scanned the Bronze, before finally seeing the cause of Buffy's departure

"I think its Angelitis," Willow said to Xander, "He's here"

"Dead boy at the Bronze? Never thought that would happen," Xander said, "But then again, what do I care? Tell me again why we can't stake him?"

Angel slowly drank his whiskey, thoughts running through his mind. He was trying to get over Buffy, but it was difficult. She was all he could think about. He couldn't get his mind off her, even though she had broken his heart. Without Buffy in his life now, what was his purpose? Did he even have a purpose anymore? Even a life?

"So, what brings the 'scourge of Europe' down to the bar with the mortalfolk?"

Angel sighed and placed his whiskey back on the bar, before facing the person

"Hello, Cordelia"

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	2. Where I Stood 2

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Buffy walked through the cemetery, stake in hand and her arms wrapped around herself, lost in her thoughts. It had felt weird seeing Angel at the Bronze, especially since he rarely went there, unless it was to tell her danger was coming or if a crisis was happening at the popular club

"Hello, girlie," a newly risen vampire grinned

He snarled and lunged at Buffy, only to score a blow to the jaw. Disorientated by the blow, the vampire was then tripped up and staked upon landing

"Goodbye, vampie," Buffy said, without a hint of humour in her voice

The vampire burst into dust as Buffy continued on her walk, thinking about Angel and how she had seen him at the Bronze. She came to a tomb and sat on it, wrapping her arms around her knees and drawing them up to her chest, staring at the night sky

"Yo, B, whatcha doing out here?" came a Southern voice

Buffy grimaced slightly. She wanted to be alone tonight. Guess that wasn't happening

"Thought I might come out and enjoy the stars," Buffy replied, "How are you, Faith?"

"I'm good. Scored a few dustings earlier, but it's quietened down since then"

"The demon-folk know you're out and about"

"Well, we should make them really scared. What do you say, B? You look like you could use some slaying. Channel some of that angst into slaying"

"You are a violent person, aren't you?" Buffy asked

"Only sometimes, when killing needs to be done," Faith shrugged

"Well come on then, let's get down to it"

Buffy hopped off the tomb and joined her sister Slayer on the patrol, hoping that a round of slaying would get her mind off Angel

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"What can I do for you, Cordelia?" Angel asked

"I just find it interesting that Mr-I-Must-Pine-Over-Buffy is here at the Bronze with us ordinary people, drinking whiskey. What happened, Buffy dump you again?"

"It's none of your business," Angel growled, the words hitting close to home

"Was just trying to be friendly. Say, drinking all that whiskey is not gonna give you a happy, is it? On the upside, it'll be easier to defeat Angelus if he's drunk"

Angel rolled his eyes, even as a small smile came to his face. The whiskey was starting to get to him. He didn't care. He wanted it all to end. He wanted the heartbreaking pain to just finally go away. Whiskey usually helped with that

"Angel, how much have you had to drink?" Cordelia asked, slightly concerned

"More than enough," Angel replied, feeling loose now from the whiskey

"Okay, you know what? No more alcohol for you, Broodypants"

Cordelia grabbed the bottle of whiskey and slid it along the bar into the hands of a now-happy patron, who started tossing the whiskey back, sculling it greedily

"He's not gonna wake up for another two weeks," Cordelia said

"Why the hell did you do that?" Angel growled

"Don't get all snarly with me because I don't want Angelus running around. Come on, I'm gonna take you home"

"Fine, I'll go home"

Angel got up from the bar and unsteadily made his way to the door. Cordelia watched him go, seeing that he wasn't wobbling much, which could be a good sign

Cordelia cringed when Angel walked into the wall and staggered back. Okay, maybe he wasn't as good as he thought he was. Rolling her eyes, Cordelia headed over and helped Angel to his feet, noting that Xander and Willow hadn't bothered to come to the vampire's aid. Helping him out of the Bronze, Cordelia dumped Angel into her car, before taking him back to his mansion. Along the way, Angel was passing in and out of consciousness, while muttering Buffy's name under his breath. She was glad when she was able to drop him off at the mansion

_"At least I still have time to have a good night"_

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Buffy landed a right backhand on the vampire's face, followed by a left hook, as the vampire growled and lashed out, but Buffy blocked his arm, delivering a blow to his solar plexus, followed by plunging the stake into his heart. The vampire cried out as he turned to dust, while Faith battled against her vampire, kicking him against a tomb. The vampire grabbed a vase and threw it, which Faith dodged as she moved in, blocking the vampire's arm and punching him in the face, then forcing him back onto the tomb and ramming the stake into his heart. The vampire turned to dust, as Faith smirked and turned to Buffy, giving her a high-five

"Another two vamps bite the dust," Faith grinned, "Let's see if there's any more"

"You go ahead. I'm gonna head home," Buffy said, "Mom will be expecting me"

"Alright then. See ya round, B"

Faith headed off in search of her next fight, as Buffy headed in the direction of home. She had managed to keep her mind off Angel during the patrol, but now that patrol was over, Angel came flooding back into her mind. She couldn't help it. She was trying to keep Angel off her mind, but it was seemingly impossible. She arrived home and went for a shower, staying in there for about fifteen minutes, only getting out when Joyce knocked at the door to make sure she was okay

Buffy got dressed, feeling a little bad that she had left Xander and Willow at the Bronze on their own. She'll see them tomorrow and apologize. She headed to the window, enjoying the slight breeze coming in. but then she saw slight movement outside and narrowed her eyes for a better look

Spiky dark hair, long leather coat. Buffy slammed her window close and folded the curtains over, before retreating to bed. Angel was standing outside her home, watching her room. It bugged her that he was doing that. She didn't want to see him, talk to him or have him standing outside her home. That was annoying and she was feeling a little angry with him doing that, like some stalker

Angel stood outside the Summers house, staring at Buffy's window. After Cordelia dropped him off at his mansion, Angel slept for about an hour, before having a mug of blood, then heading over to the Summers house, the previous day still running through his mind. He knew he should move on, but he couldn't. The connection he had with Buffy was holding him back. She had all his love, but she also broke his heart. He wanted her back, but she didn't want him. He had tried to drown out his sorrows, but Cordelia had put a stop to that

_"She doesn't want to talk to me"_

Dejected, Angel turned his back and headed off into the night

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_The next morning…_

"Good morning!"

Angel groaned in his sleep, opening his eyes and rolling over to look at Cordelia. She grinned as she stood in his bedroom doorway. The vampire shot a glare at the cheerleader, before rolling back over and hiding his head under his pillow

"Yep, you're back to your normal self. All is well again"

"What are you doing here?" Angel growled, bolting upright

"You drank a fair load of whiskey last night. I was just stopping by to see if you're okay, cause I don't think the others really care. Especially Buffy"

"You know nothing of what's going on between us"

"Oh come on, Angel, it's the same crap day in, day out. You love, you cry, you hurt, you break up, you brood and you get back together again. It's _so_ repetitive"

"Your point being?"

"I think with the way you were drinking last night, she broke up with you for good"

"I'm sure I told you last night that it was none of your business"

"Well, I'm sure you don't want to keep going on. I mean with the broody and the angsty drinking. Cause that's just not good for you. And-"

"Cordelia," Angel interrupted, "What do you care?"

"I was going to tell you to move on from Buffy. She obviously isn't worth your time. But you don't want any of my help, so I'll see you around, Angel"

She grabbed her schoolbag and left the room, as Angel groaned and fell back onto the pillows. However, he couldn't get back to sleep. He was thinking about Buffy again, but this time around, he was thinking about Cordelia's words. She seemed like she wanted to help him, but he had pushed her away. And when he did, he had caught a miniscule flash of hurt in the brunette's eyes. Angel groaned, trying to erase it from his mind, before getting up from the bed and getting about his day

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	3. Where I Stood 3

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"So, Buff, what happened last night?" Xander asked

"Yeah, you kinda just ran out of the Bronze, without even saying goodbye" Willow said, before lowering her voice slightly, "Was it because of Angel?"

"No…maybe…I don't know…besides, me leaving last night was good for the community," Buffy said, "I joined Faith on patrol and slayed some evil"

"Because we did see Angel at the Bronze last night. Surprisingly," Xander said

"Really? You saw him there?" Buffy asked, feigning ignorance "What was he doing there?"

"I don't know. You're the one who's knowledgeable on all things Angel"

"Shouldn't you three have somewhere to be?" Principal Snyder asked, arriving behind the trio with the usual look of contempt on his face

"We're on our way there," Xander said, "Don't worry, Principal Snyder, we're all ready to get in and learn extra hard today"

"Let's hope so, Harris. Any more failures from you and I'll be looking forward to expelling you. Oh, happy day that shall be"

"You sure do know how to inspire us students"

"Off to class now"

Principal Snyder walked off, as the trio headed to class

"Buffy, you can't say you didn't see Angel there," Xander said, "Will and I both know you left last night because of him being there"

"Did you guys break up again?" Willow asked softly

"Look, it's…complicated," Buffy said, "Let's just…go to class"

The trio arrived in class, as Buffy took a seat near the window. Opening up her notebook, she came across a few words she had scribbled in a few months ago:

_Buffy and Angel forever_

She thought back to that moment when she had written that note. Back when she believed that she and Angel had a future together. Before Angelus came along and ruined things. Before she had to send Angel to hell to save the world. That memory continuously played over in her mind. The battle with Angelus and his re-ensoulment. Angel's shocked look as he was sucked into Acathla

Now, she wasn't sure if she and Angel had a future together. Well, not for a while anyway, considering she had left him. Buffy shook her head, trying to clear her mind and focus on the schoolwork, but found it hard as she kept thinking about Angel. Thinking when she had seen him at the Bronze. When she had seen him lurking outside her home, watching her window. Her feelings about Angel right now

"Buffy, you're distracted," Willow said, "Look"

Buffy looked down at her notebook, seeing the words 'Angel', 'Angelus', 'Acathla' and 'Forever?' etched all over the page. She sighed and tore the page out, scrunching it up and throwing it towards the rubbish bin…missing as it bounced off the edge

"So you two did break up," Willow said

It wasn't a question. Buffy sighed and looked at her friend with sad eyes

"Yeah, we did. I dumped him the other night"

"Oh, Buffy, why?"

"I just felt like…we couldn't be together…anymore. It's a big complicated thing. It happened not long after Spike left. For an evil thing, he's quite insightful"

"Miss Summers, Miss Rosenberg," called the teacher, "Stop talking"

"Tell me about it at lunch," Willow whispered

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"Well, that looks constructive"

Angel jumped at the sound of Cordelia's voice. He looked over his shoulder, seeing her in the doorway with a grin on her face and schoolbag in her hand. He hadn't even heard her come in. Then he looked at the clock and frowned

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Uh, it's so overrated. Like I'm gonna need science in my life. Beside, it's nice to get away from there. Away from Harmony and her moronic friends"

"You need to be in school," Angel said

"Sorry, Dad," Cordelia said sarcastically

She dropped her schoolbag aside and sat on the couch, as Angel got up and headed to the fireplace, his back to the young cheerleader

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"Like I said, school is overrated and I thought I'd come here. Be a whole lot better than say at my place. Also thought you might want some company"

"Not really"

"So, you rather sit here and brood about Buffy all day and all night?" Cordelia asked

"Look, you wouldn't understand," Angel said, facing her, "You wouldn't understand what we have or rather, what we had or what we're going through"

"Okay, so I might not completely know what exactly you guys had," Cordelia said, "But I have an idea of what you're going through, Angel, and you can't spend the rest of your unlife moping around your mansion"

"What else am I suppose to do?" Angel asked, sitting down by the fireplace

"Definitely not mope around. Look, maybe you should get your mind off Buffy, even if it's for a small moment and think about something else"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Oh, tell me a story. One from the ye ole days"

Angel cocked an eyebrow at her

"You don't want to know what I did in the 'ye ole days'"

"Oh come on. For someone who is as old as you, surely there'd be something"

Cordelia gave Angel her 100-watt smile. Angel couldn't help himself but give a small smile in return. Her smile sure was infectious

"Okay then, let's see then," he said, thinking back to the old days as Cordelia waited patiently, "I'll tell you one about me and Darla in Rome in 1818"

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Buffy patrolled through the cemetery, lost in her thoughts. She had told Willow all about the break-up with Angel earlier and her friend sympathised with her. After all, Willow and Oz were still working out the creases in their relationship. After returning home, Buffy did some homework, then decided to go out on patrol, knowing that Giles would be on her case tomorrow if she didn't patrol. And he'd remind her about her destiny, vampires, forces of evil, blah blah blahdie blah blah

"You look good enough to eat," the vampire leered

He growled and lunged at Buffy, not expecting her fist to crash into his face. The vampire reeled back from the blow, as Buffy followed through with an inner crescent kick. The vampire stumbled against a tombstone and snarled, before snapping the top off and swinging it at Buffy. She dodged the first swing, blocking his arms on the second swing and punching him in the face, followed by a kick. Suddenly she found herself kissing dirt following a surprise attack from the vampire's partner

"I never tasted a Slayer before," the new vampire grinned

"Trust me, you'll never find out," Buffy said, getting up

She faced the vampires, working out her plan of attack. The first vampire moved in, but Buffy kicked him in the stomach, backhanding the second vampire, then slamming her elbow onto the first vampire's back. Quickly staking him, Buffy whirled around to face the second vampire, her arm getting blocked as he kicked her in the stomach. Stumbling back, Buffy ducked the vampire's roundhouse kick and delivered two swift blows to his jaw, finishing the combo off with a staking. As the vampire burst into dust, Buffy took a moment to gather her breath, before realizing she was near Angel's mansion. Deciding to check in on him, she set off for the mansion, reaching there and creeping up to the window. However, she was not expecting the sight she saw

Cordelia was sitting on the couch with Angel, a fire roaring in the fireplace and both of them were smiling and laughing, mainly the cheerleader, as if Angel had told her the best joke in the world. Buffy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Angel didn't seem to be in any pain. He looked completely relaxed with Cordelia

Hurt by the scene before her, Buffy whirled around and hurried off home

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"Oh my God, you have got to be kidding me!" Cordelia cried

"No, I'm not," Angel said, "The Immortal had Spike and me running through the streets of London in nothing more than our undergarments. Embarrassing"

"Hilarious is more like it," Cordelia giggled, before looking at the clock, "Holy crap, it's late. I've been having too much fun. I've got to go, Angel"

"I can take you home if you want," Angel offered, "It's late and there will be all sorts of nasty creatures out there"

"I'll be fine, Angel," Cordelia said, "Got my stake and pepper spray here. Thanks for today. I had a good time listening to your stories"

"You're welcome," Angel said, "Thanks for keeping me company"

Cordelia gave him a pleased smile, as he watched her leave the mansion

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	4. Where I Stood 4

**Hey guys, I'm back. I know it has been _months_ since I last updated this story and I'm thankful for all the reviews I've received for this story. Life, writer's block and work chewed into a fair bit of my time and once I got over the writer's block, I decided to try and work on one story per month. I was going to leave this for another month, but I decided to come back and I will try and update a bit more regulary this time. So thanks for all the reviews so far and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter**

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_One week later…_

Angel stood in front of the house, staring at the window. The light was on, as a silhouette appeared. It was her, his love. Or maybe former love. Didn't matter. He still loved her, with all of his unbeating heart. It had been a week since Cordelia was last around and he hadn't seen her since, leaving him to his own thoughts. He took a swig from the bottle, still staring at the window. It was a mixture of blood and whiskey and although it tasted horrible, he still drank it, starting to feel snookered. He wanted her. He pined for her. He needed her. The curtain opened and Buffy appeared in the window, glaring at him

"What are you doing here?" she demanded

She was trying to come off as cold and unwelcoming, but it wasn't completely working. She was speaking with forcly hidden sadness. She was still upset about the other night when she had seen Cordelia at Angel's mansion, laughing with him

"Was taking a stroll," Angel replied, "Wanted to see you"

He took another swig of the blood/whiskey concoction, as Buffy frowned

"Are you drinking?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Since when do you drink?"

"Since when do I don't? You've just never seen me do it"

"Go away. I don't want to see you, Angel. Now leave before I stake you"

"Fine. If you insist, Buffy"

Angel took another swig and walked away. Buffy sighed and closed the curtain, before falling onto her bed, trying hard not to cry, trying to hold the tears back. She felt responsible for Angel's drinking. She had pushed him to this, all because of her own feelings. She didn't stop to think about his feelings, just carried through and dumped him. Didn't matter to him why, she just did it. And now there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't turn back time. She had to live with the consequences now. Trying to push the images away, Buffy soon drifted off to sleep, as the first of the tears began to fall. Meanwhile, Angel made his way towards his mansion. He quickly finished his drink and tossed the bottle aside, before taking a shortcut through the cemetery, thoughts running through his mind

_"Buffy doesn't want me. She has no need for me in her life. I'm nothing to her"_

WHAM!

Angel growled and vamped out, as the vampire swung his fist, but Angel grabbed his wrist and kicked him in the chest. He may be under the influence, but his vampiric instincts were kicking in, overriding any drunkenness. The vampire swung again, only for Angel to deflect his fist, then catch his leg and throw him onto his back. Angel then started looking around for something wooden. The vampire tackled Angel to the ground, drawing a stake from his coat and raising it

"_Go on, do it,"_ Angel thought, _"End my unlife, I don't care"_

The vampire went to stake, however, a cross was pressed against his cheek and he screamed, dropping the stake, as Angel caught it and rammed it into the vampire's heart. He burst into dust, as Angel groggily got to his feet, seeing Cordelia before him

"Cordy, what the hell are you doing here?"

The fight had charged his adrenaline and it was slowly sobering him up

"I could ask you the same thing," Cordelia said, "Have you been drinking?"

"What do you care?" Angel asked

He was annoyed that he hadn't been able to die. He had no more reason to keep on living. Buffy was his reason and that she didn't want him anymore, it felt pointless to constantly be around. He had nothing going for him anymore

"If I didn't care, you'd be dust blowing in the wind"

"So what? I didn't need your help, Cordelia. I could have handled it"

"Pfft. Whatever, Angel, I'll see you around. That's if I survived the night"

"Well, what are you doing out here?"

"My car broke down. I was wondering if you were milling around in your old home nearby, cause it's not like you've got a cell phone. And don't worry, I've got my cross, holy water, pepper spray and stake, I was going to be okay"

"Couldn't you just call a taxi or something?"

"And wait around to get eaten?"

"You got all your vampire-killing gear on you. You would have been fine"

Angel walked past Cordelia and continued his walk towards home

"Angel, please. Is it alright if I stay with you tonight"

Angel stopped and sighed. He didn't want any other problems on his hands apart from his own and they were already too much for him: losing Buffy and the weight of his soul baring down on his mind, the memories of being Angelus last year still fresh in his mind, along with the memories from a hundred and fifty years ago

"Fine. But this is only a one-off thing, got it?"

"Yeah, sure, I've got it. You can guarantee this will never happen again"

"Come on then, let's go"

Cordelia hurried after Angel as he stalked towards home. They didn't speak to each other during the walk, as they reached the mansion. Angel opened the door and quickly showed Cordelia to the spare room, before heading to his own, falling down on the bed and falling asleep

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_The next morning…_

Cordelia opened her eyes and it took her a moment to register where she was. Getting up, she left the room and began searching for the bathroom. Once she had a shower, she wrapped herself in one of the spare bathrobes, before heading back to her room, while brushing her hair. She was simply thankful that it was the weekend and that she didn't have to worry about school. Cordelia stopped by Angel's room and peeked inside, but the vampire wasn't in bed, which was neatly made. Frowning, Cordelia headed to the kitchen, before hearing banging sounds. Following the noises outside, Cordelia arrived in the dark garage, where Angel was working on her car. He was wearing a white singlet over dark pants and he was covered in stains

"How'd you get my car?" she asked

"Got a tow truck to bring it here," Angel replied, cleaning his hands off, "Your car simply needed a new service"

"Oh yeah, I was going to book one of those today or tomorrow"

"Well, it should be up and running now"

Angel tossed the rag aside, before heading around to the driver's side and turning the key. The car started up perfectly and he stepped back with a small smile

"There we go"

"Oh thank you, Angel, thank you so much. You feeling better now?"

"Yeah, slept it all off. Guess you can head off home now"

Cordelia didn't hear the last part. She was too busy staring at something across the garage. It was car-shaped, but covered in a large dusty cloth. Cordelia headed over and since she didn't hear any resistance from Angel, she drew back the cover

"Wow, neat ride"

"Yeah, I've had that for nearly thirty years"

Angel joined Cordelia by the 1967 Plymouth GTX convertible. Cordelia was in awe as she stared at the vehicle. It looked so beautiful. She wanted to get in and drive it, but she had a feeling Angel wouldn't let her

"Why are you hiding it? Why don't you ride around in it?"

"Because I don't really need it to travel. Sunnydale is a small enough town that I can just walk around. But I can't rid of her. The car, I mean"

"Yeah, why would you? You should drive it again, Angel"

"And I will. I'm gonna leave at the end of the year and I'm taking the car"

Cordelia whirled around to Angel

"You're leaving? Why? Is it because of Buffy?"

"I think you should go get dressed," Angel said

Cordelia was about to reply when she realized she was just wearing a bathrobe. Nodding, she turned and headed back into the house, as Angel switched the car off, before pulling the cover back over the Plymouth. His decision to leave was something he thought about last night and this morning. There was no point for him to stay in Sunnydale any longer. But he knew that something evil was coming. And he knew that Buffy would need his help to stop it. but once the fight was finished, he was going to leave Sunnydale behind and try to make a new life somewhere else. He had thoughts on returning to Los Angeles

Shaking his head, Angel cleaned up his tools, before heading inside, as Cordelia passed him. She gave him a small nod, before getting into her car and driving away. Angel stood at the window, careful of the sunlight, watching her go, before turning away and heading for the shower

††††††††††


	5. Where I Stood 5

††††††††††

Angel tossed and turned in his sleep. He was having dreams or to be more accurate, nightmares. In his dreams, he was killing people as Angelus. People from his past. A few people kept standing out, their dead bodies talking to him, telling him about their lives, what they were going to do if he hadn't killed him, feeling him up with so much guilt, even Angelus couldn't handle it

Angel shot up in bed, sweat running down his body. His throat felt dry. Getting out of bed, Angel made his way down to the fridge and made himself up a mug of blood, uneasiness filtering through his body. This was the third night in a row he had those dreams. He wasn't sure why he was having these dreams. Well, it was usually normal for him to dream about his past, but not like this, where the victims were talking to him, making him feel so much guilt that not even dream-Angelus could handle

_"What is going on? Why is this happening? What's causing it?"_

Gulping down the blood, Angel soon returned to bed and the dreams

††††††††††

"Buffy, are you listening to me?" Giles asked

"Sorry, what were you talking about?" Buffy asked

"Christmas is nearly here and we need to complete the list"

"There's a list?"

"Is now," Xander said, handing her the list, "Come on, it'll be fun. Just a little Christmas party together. Just us Scoobies"

"Sounds like a good idea," Buffy agreed

"Oz and I will be there," Willow said, "Then we're going back to my place"

She had a small smile on her face. She had just recently gotten back with Oz and was as ecstatic as ever, while Xander and Cordelia still remained as slightly distant friends and it looked like it was going to stay that way

"Of course, you'll have to patrol beforehand," Giles said, "Who knows what could be lurking out there tonight"

"Carol-singers?" Xander suggested

"No, Xander, vampires!"

"Oh. Well, carol-singers can be as bad as vampires. We can't just slay them, though"

Giles sighed and whapped Xander across the back of the head with a book. However, Xander was quite used to this and simply carried on with his schoolwork

††††††††††

"Hey, Cordy, you coming to this Scooby party?" Xander asked

"As if I would be caught dead with you freaks?" Cordelia shot back

"I was just wondering, cause you're still a Scooby, even if you don't hang out with us anymore. We still think you're part of the team"

"Well, gee thanks, Xander, that's so kind of you. If only I wasn't going away to the ski slopes with my parents"

"Oh…well…have fun then"

Cordelia gave him a sarcastic smile, before walking off, as Xander sighed

_"Things were so much better when we were dating. Guess not"_

††††††††††

_Later that night…_

Giles frowned as he opened the door and the frown turned into surprise, followed by anger when he saw Angel standing before him

"I need help," Angel said

"Here comes the funny," Giles said dryly

"Can I come in?"

"The funny keeps on coming"

Giles walked away, before returning with a loaded crossbow

"Come in"

Angel walked in and sat down, as Giles sat across from him, crossbow aimed at his heart, his finger resting on the trigger

"I've been having dreams. Of all those I've killed. But they're talking back to me in my dreams. And I think they're manifesting in this world to further torment me"

"And you need my help with this because?" Giles asked, "Personally, after all you've done to me and everyone else, Angel, I think you deserve this"

"I need help, Rupert. I have no one to go to. No one"

"What about Buffy?"

"I don't want to involve her in this," Angel replied shortly, "I think I'll just go"

"I think that will be a wise decision," Giles said

Angel stood up and headed for the door, before stopping and looking back

"I'm sorry for what happened to Jenny. I hope you understand it wasn't by my hands"

Giles ignored Angel, as he left the house. The Watcher then placed his crossbow aside, before reaching for the bottle of scotch resting on the bookshelf, before opening it and pouring himself a glass, the night of Jenny's death flashing through his mind

††††††††††

_Several hours later…_

Angel stood on the cliff edge, overlooking Sunnydale. Ever since leaving Giles' place and returning to the mansion, Angel had been tormented by the physical manifestations of his victims, including Jenny Calender. They spoke to him, telling him to kill Buffy and lose his soul, become Angelus once more and therefore be free of all the pain he had caused himself and everyone around him, ending up driving him into despair and immense grief. However, Angel refused to head out and kill Buffy, deciding to protect her by killing himself instead. The apparitions were correct: he didn't deserve to live anymore. He was a monster and would always be a monster, soul or no soul, it didn't matter, the beast was still inside him, just waiting to come out. So, Angel drove to the most open cliff he could find, just waiting for the sun to come out so it could incinerate him to pieces, leaving nothing behind, just so the world and Buffy would be safe from him. He had no right to keep living after all the murder and chaos he had caused over the years. He loved Buffy too much to cause her any further pain and this was the only way he knew he could prevent that

"Angel?"

Angel whirled around, seeing Cordelia standing next to her car, all rugged up in warm clothing. She headed over to him, before sitting down on a rock nearby

"What are you doing out here?" Angel asked, "I thought you were going away?"

"Pfft, as if my parents are gonna take me with them? Besides, this is one of my favourite places to come to when I want to get away from it all. I thought no one else knew about it. Guess I was wrong. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Waiting for the sun to come up"

"Why? Oh God, are you suicidal again? What the hell is going on with you, Angel?"

"You wouldn't understand," Angel growled, "How would a little girl like you understand all that I've done. All the murders and torturing I've committed"

"I bet I wouldn't," Cordelia said, rising up, "But I've seen what you were capable of. But understand this, Angel, you can't hold yourself responsible"

"He's there, inside me, Cordelia, day in, day out. Always whispering. Everywhere I go, I cause pain, death and misery. It's just the same and it needs to end. I need to end it. I'm the only one and this is the only way"

"Don't be such an idiot," Cordelia said, "This is such stupid thinking, even from you. How could you even think of something like this?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand," Angel said, looking back at the sky

"Now, listen here, Angel-"

"No, you listen," Angel said, grabbing Cordelia by the shoulders, "I don't deserve to live anymore. I can't take back what I've done, but maybe I can make up for it by going away permanently. No one will ever have to suffer if I'm not around"

"Listen to yourself, you're crazy," Cordelia said, "Dying doesn't always change anything. You kill yourself now, you'll never make up for your past"

"Like you would know? You're young and stupid. You have no comprehension of my past. I've committed so many sins I can't make up for it. No matter what I do"

Angel pushed Cordelia away, before turning back to the sky, as Cordelia fell onto her backside. She growled under her breath, before getting up and dusting her pants off, then storming to Angel's side, anger all over her face. Angel was really starting to annoy her. She knew she should just let it go, but she wanted to make him see sense

"Now, you listen to me, Angel-"

However, Cordelia never got to finish. Simply because snow had started to fall. Both Angel and Cordelia frowned as they watched the flakes fall from the dark sky. Angel knew that morning was upon them, but the sun hadn't rose up. The sky was still dark, as the snow continued to fall. Angel and Cordelia sat down on the rocks, watching the snow falling upon them. And Angel began to smile. For once, hope had grown in his heart and was spreading throughout his body. For once, he was looking towards the future. His mind felt clear and he felt hope

"How you feeling, Angel?" Cordelia asked, "You still wanna kill yourself?"

"No. I feel…better now…better than I have before. I feel…lighter…"

_"Maybe Cordelia is right. Maybe I can make up for my past a different way"_

††††††††††


	6. Where I Stood 6

**Wow, has it really been over two years since I last updated this? In which case, I deeply apologise. Life is just full of surprises, let's just say that and has an annoying habit of getting in the way. But enough exuses. I'm going to do my best to get this story finished, though I am working on another project at the same time, so chapters will be a bit in between, but hopefully more regular.**

††††††††††

"So, we're having this quick patrol and then we're having a small Christmas party?" Faith asked, "Is there alcohol involved?"

"No, I think it'll just be a little get-together thing," Buffy replied

It was late in the night and the pair were patrolling through the cemetery, while discussing the Scooby Christmas party happening the next night

"Screw that, B. It's a party, there has to be drinking involved"

"We're a little young for that"

"Come on, B, live on the wild side a bit. Let loose once in a while. You'll find it's not so bad. Live while you still can"

Buffy was about to reply when five vampires sauntered into view. Both Slayers retained their neutral stance, as the vampires surrounded them

"Nice little fillies. Looking for a ride?" a vampire asked

"Are you?" Faith replied

"Ooh, I like this one," grinned another vampire, "Can I have her?"

"Any way you like," came the reply

The vampire grinned and sauntered over to Faith, licking his fangs, as she smirked at him, then slugged him in the jaw. The vampire staggered back, as Faith followed up with a kick to his chest, while his buddies moved for Buffy. She struck one vampire and parried a second, shoving him aside and staking the third, as Faith staked a vampire and moved onto the next one, kicking him on the side of the knee, followed by a blow to the face, then grabbed him by his shirt and threw him to the ground. As the vampire went to get up, Faith staked him through the back, before turning to Buffy and seeing that she had dusted her vampires.

"Nice one, B," Faith said, "We make a great team."

"Yeah, I guess we do. I think that's the end of our patrol."

"Yeah, but not the end of the night. I know these guys who are throwing a Christmas party. Should be rocking. Wanna come?"

"Nah. Think I should head home," Buffy replied, "Mom would be worrying."

"Ah, she'll be fine," Faith said, "I really think you need this. Kinda noticed your head's been in the clouds lately and you need to relax, let it whatever it is go."

"I really don't-"

"And besides, we're Slayers. Nothing can stop us. Any guy who tries to come on too strong, well, they're easily handled, let's put it that way. So, what do you say, B?"

Buffy opened her mouth to decline once more, but then thought about the offer. Faith was right, she had been in the clouds lately. Too busy thinking about Angel and what the future held for them. Maybe it was time to break away from the twenty-four/seven moping and actually cut loose for once. Have a little fun. Harmless even.

"Sure, Faith," Buffy answered, "Let's go."

Faith grinned, "Now that's more like it, B."

††††††††††

"Surprise!"

Angel looked up from his book in surprise to see Cordelia in the doorway. Before he could say anything, two burly men entered the mansion, carrying a Christmas tree and setting it up near the fireplace, before leaving, as Cordelia joined him after dumping a large box of Christmas decorations by the tree.

"Uh, nice surprise," Angel finally managed, "What's this all about?"

"Well, duh, it's Christmas," Cordelia replied, "And are you really going to be sitting here, reading a book for the entire Christmas?"

"Seemed like a good idea."

"See, that's what I thought. You need some good holiday cheer. A bit of Christmas spirit. Couldn't exactly leave you here all alone, could I now?"

"You're a saint."

"Damn right I am. At least I've thought about you. Knowing the others, they didn't. I mean, they're having a little get-together and couldn't be bothered inviting you."

"That's thoughtful of them," Angel said.

"Oh, lighten up," Cordelia said, hanging up a stocking on the mantel.

"Is that really necessary? You know, Cordelia, vampires don't celebrate Christmas."

"Yes, but you're an exception to vampires, so you can be an exception for this."

"Cordelia-"

"Angel! You're celebrating Christmas and I'm helping you do it, alright?"

Angel actually shrank back a little at the forcefulness of the cheerleader's tone that left no room for arguments. It was her way or else.

"Uh, okay, but why are you here anyway? Why aren't you with your parents?"

"Because they're not in the country. Duh."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. So, uh, how do we go about this?"

"Well, it's only Christmas Eve," Cordelia replied, "But maybe I could whip up eggnog and we could decorate the tree. Then, we could sit by the fire, trading stories."

"Aren't you a bit young for eggnog?" Angel asked.

"Puh-lease. I've known the recipe off by heart since I was nine. No biggie. And knowing that you wouldn't have anything other than blood, I actually bought the ingredients myself. You do have a useable kitchen, right?"

"Wow, you're really serious about this?" Angel said, allowing himself a small smile, "I think there is a few things in the kitchen you can use."

"Great. Come on, you're helping me," Cordelia said.

Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed Angel by the hand and dragged him into the kitchen. As he helped her make the eggnog, Angel couldn't help but feel grateful that Cordelia had actually thought of him enough to come visit him on Christmas Eve and was even willing to spend the night with him to keep him company.

††††††††††

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" came the random, drunken shout.

"Merry Christmas," Buffy replied, a little drunkenly.

She drowned the shot of rum, made a face and tossed the tiny plastic cup aside, before heading towards the main table, pouring herself another shot. Nearby, three frat boys were using hoses as straws in a large bowl of beer with others were cheering them on. Buffy was amused by the show, taking the shot, as Faith came over to her, a football jock hanging off her, both staggering, the jock way more so than the brunette Slayer.

"Having fun, B?" Faith asked.

"Sure," Buffy slurred, "I think this was a good idea."

Since arriving to the party, Buffy began wondering why she even agreed to go, with frat boys and alcohol making her want to puke, while drunk couples making out in the corner made her think of Angel and she was reminded of the heartbreak she was going through. Which made her want to try and get rid of the heartbreak, even if was only for a moment, so when a drink was presented to her, Buffy took it and before she knew it, she was downing shots of questionable liquid, getting drunker by the minute and it wasn't long before she wasn't even thinking about Angel at all. She was simply happy, with not even a care in the world. Or eye-and-hand co-ordination.

"Wow, B, you're smashed," Faith said, "I think you've had enough for the night."

"Well, wha…wh…what 'bout chu?" Buffy asked after another shot, "You've bin 'ere long as me…and you'rree not drunk."

"That's cause I know how to handle my drink. Now come on, I'm sure there's a room or two upstairs we can lay your ass down so you can recover."

"Fine, put me to bed," Buffy pouted.

Faith shrugged the jock off, who skulled a glass of beer and promptly collapsed. The younger Slayer smirked at her would-be conquest, before slinging Buffy's arm across her shoulders and helping her navigate past the passed-out drunks in the living room and up the stairs to one of the few bedrooms that wasn't occupied. Gently placing Buffy on the bed, Faith placed her on her side near the edge and went to leave, but Buffy suddenly grabbed her wrist, holding her in place.

"Faith…thanks," the blonde slurred.

"Sure, no problem," Faith said, "Sweet dreams, B."

††††††††††

Angel stood back, a glass of eggnog in hand, as he admired the Christmas tree. He had to admit, he and Cordelia had done a really good job on decorating it, while the cheerleader had even gone ahead and decorated the living room with colourful tinsel, commenting on how the mansion needed to be brightened up. Seeing her enthusiasm and knowing that she needed some kind of distraction from not having her parents around for Christmas (which he knew she wouldn't admit), Angel decided to let her go and carry out her crazed decorating. Now, the living room did look quite colourful, as Cordelia collapsed onto the couch, thanking Angel for the eggnog he handed her.

"See? Now, doesn't this look so much better?" Cordelia asked, obviously pleased with herself.

"Yeah, it sure does," Angel agreed, sitting across from her.

"So, what was Christmas like you back in the day?"

"Well, there was this one incident in 1882 involving me, Darla, Drusilla and Spike."

††††††††††


	7. Where I Stood 7

††††††††††

Buffy groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight peeking through the window too bright for her tastes, as a dull ache pounded in her head. With another groan, she rolled over to get away from the sun, surprise waking her up when she came across another body in the bed. Her eyes shot open fully and she sat up, regretting the action as her head protested, but she ignored the pain as she stared at the person beside her, before looking down at herself and noticing the state of undress she was in, basically wearing only her shirt from last night and a pair of panties.

_"Did I - did we? Oh my God, did we really? God, I hope not. Please no. It was the alcohol, I swear! Oh God, can I get out of here before - damn!"_

"Hey, B, how you feeling?" Faith asked with a hint of a smirk.

††††††††††

Cordelia opened her eyes, the smell of cooking wafting into the spare room she was currently staying in. With a groan, she pulled herself out of bed and checked herself in the mirror (thankful she had brought one around), lazily pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, then headed downstairs into the kitchen where she found Angel slaving away at the stove, busy cooking up what looked like pancakes.

"Morning," Angel said when he saw her, "And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Angel," Cordelia replied, "Are you cooking pancakes?"

"Well, thought you might want some. I mean, just because I can't eat doesn't mean I can't cook. It's one of my few skills."

Still in surprise over the fact that he was cooking, Cordelia took a seat at the small table, as he served her, including a glass of orange juice, before beginning the clean-up. Taking a small bite, Cordelia was amazed at how an exceptional cook he was. It was simply the best pancake she ever had. For someone on a liquid diet, he was good.

"So, why aren't you having anything?" Cordelia asked once Angel sat down.

"Because I can only have blood," he replied.

"That's what I mean. What, you think you're gonna gross me out by drinking blood? Okay, so yeah, that is a little icky, but don't skip out for my sake. The last thing I need is you getting a massive craving for me all because you missed out on breakfast."

"Cordelia, I'll be fine," Angel said, "See, I've got coffee," he added, raising the mug.

"A vampire on caffeine. That'll keep the cravings at bay. So, you feeling any better? You're not going to run off and try to commit suicide again?"

_"Always without the tact. But straight to the point,"_ Angel thought, "I think I'm good. I've given it some thought. Just because I did a lot of evil in the past doesn't mean I can't be redeemed. So, that's what I'm going to work on. Redemption."

"Good for you," Cordelia said, adding her empty plate to the dishes, "Now, I'm going to go for a shower, then it's present time."

Angel allowed himself a small smile as she left the kitchen. She had definitely brought some light back into his life and he was thankful for that. With her around, he wasn't given a chance to wallow in his darkness and he knew she would refuse to let him. Despite her tactless approach to things, deep inside, he knew that Cordelia was a kind and caring person when she allowed herself to be. He was glad he had her in his life, someone he could call a friend. And for Angel, a friend was a very rare thing.

††††††††††

"Buffy, you're home," Joyce cried when her daughter came down the stairs, "I was starting to think you were going to miss the morning."

"I couldn't do that now, could I?" Buffy said, "I had a late night patrolling and just crashed at Willow's for the night."

"You should have called me. Doesn't matter, you're here now, so let's get started."

Buffy nodded her agreement and numbly followed her mother into the living room, the images of the past few hours flashing through her mind. She couldn't exactly remember what had happened last night, but she could only guess. And since Faith had been as dressed as she was this morning, it only stood to reason that something had happened between them. Whether it was bad or just bad-bad, Buffy didn't know, as she had hurriedly dressed and left the house before Faith could speak further. But she didn't need Faith to explain what had happened. She knew it had. The last thing she could remember was when she had grabbed Faith's hand. From there, it would have gone anywhere and as it turns out, it had been her and Faith-

"Buffy," Joyce said, "You alright, honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy said, snapping back to reality, "Just a little tired."

"Perhaps afterwards you should get some rest," Joyce suggested, "You don't want to be falling asleep at your Christmas party tonight, do you now?"

At the mention of the party, Buffy perked up. At least she would be with Willow and Xander and Giles and Oz…and Faith. Upon realising that, Buffy deflated a little, but thankfully, her mother didn't notice due to her looking under the Christmas tree.

"Why don't you pick first?" Joyce suggested.

"Sure thing," Buffy said, before joining her mother beside the tree.

††††††††††

"Oh, Angel, you shouldn't have," Cordelia said.

"I wanted to," Angel replied.

She turned back to the silver pendant charm bracelet she was now holding, a gift to her from Angel. It was currently bare of any pendants, save for a cherub angel charm.

"You know, this little guy needs fangs or something," Cordelia said, "Something grr."

"Yeah, they didn't have anything like that at the store," Angel said.

He was currently fingering the new silver chain necklace Cordelia had given him, along with the silver Celtic ring he was now wearing on his right hand. He had to admit, he quite liked what Cordelia had gotten him and he was glad that she liked her present, as he helped clip the bracelet onto her wrist.

"You don't have any plans today?" Cordelia asked, "No friends or acquaintances to greet? Great," she said, cutting Angel off before he could reply, "I have a request."

"Uh, what kind of request would that be?" Angel asked warily.

"You're a pretty good fighter, right? I mean, being two hundred and fifty years old-"

"Two hundred and forty-six," Angel clarified, but he was ignored.

"-And all, you can definitely kick some ass. So, think you can teach me?"

"Uh, why would I want to do that? Why would you want to be trained anyway?"

"Let's see, I'm a very attractive, tasty morsel who isn't always going to have a blonde slayer around to save my life or a vampire with a soul either for that matter, so it makes sense that I should learn how to defend myself so I can really defend myself."

Angel groaned to himself. He knew he shouldn't be doing something like this at all, but he couldn't resist the 100-megawatt smile that Cordelia was beaming at him, her puppy dog eyes pleading with him to say yes. With a huff, Angel agreed.

"Yes!" Cordelia cheered, "I need to head home and grab some clothes, but when I come back, we're starting on the ass-kicking."

With a smile, she left the living room, as Angel sighed to himself.

"Lord help me, what have I gotten myself into?"

††††††††††

"Buffy, you've made it," Giles greeted, "Come in, come in."

"Merry Christmas, Giles," Buffy smiled, handing him a present.

"And Merry Christmas to you too," he said as he closed the door.

"Merry Christmas, Buffy," Willow and Xander greeted, while Oz simply raised his cup in greeting.

Buffy greeted them all back in kind, before joining them in the living room, animatedly chatting away with them as Giles went into the kitchen. After a while, Willow excused herself to help Giles with the food and drinks, as a knock came at the door. Buffy's heart quickened as Xander answered the door and Faith sauntered in, wearing dark clothing and make-up, her eyes lingering on Buffy a smidge longer than she liked, as Faith greeted the others and settled down onto the armchair. She looked at everyone in turn, her eyes settling on Buffy last, staring at her with something akin to lust and temptation, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Merry Christmas, Buffy."

††††††††††


	8. Where I Stood 8

††††††††††

Buffy wandered aimlessly through the cemetery, hoping for a vampire or two to pop out and make the night exciting. She had a good time with her friends at the party, mostly with Xander telling bad jokes and Giles telling him to quiet down. However, there had been the problem with Faith, who kept staring at Buffy, even when she was partaking in the festivities. After a few hours, Buffy excused herself, telling Giles that she was going to patrol to keep it safe for the carollers. Mostly, she wanted to clear her mind and not think about what could have happened between her and Faith.

Growling broke the quiet night and Buffy quickened her pace through the cemetery, however, she was caught by surprise when she saw it was Angel fighting against a pair of vampires instead of Faith. She watched in awe as he beat the vampires into the ground, before staking the pair of them, then turning around to face her. He had sensed her the moment she arrived, but put it aside until the fight was finished. Now the vampires were dust, leaving just him and her alone together.

"Buffy," Angel said, "You look…good."

"Thanks. So do you," Buffy replied, "What are you doing out here?"

"Patrolling. It's Christmas and vampires usually try to take advantage of that."

"Since when did you patrol on your own?"

"Since now. I need to do something to stop myself-"

"Don't," Buffy warned, "Let's not go there. Not now, not tonight."

Angel let out an exasperated sigh. For the first time ever, he was feeling awkward around Buffy and he wasn't entirely sure why. Buffy, on the other hand, didn't want to be in Angel's presence, but at the same time, she couldn't help but be drawn to him.

"So, how have you been anyway?" Buffy asked despite herself.

"I've been…good," Angel replied, "Yourself?"

"Fine."

In truth, Angel hadn't really given Buffy much thought, due to always having Cordelia around. Speaking of which, he thought about how much of a quick learner she was, as she was able to effortlessly follow his movements, stating that as a cheerleader, she needed to only see a move once before she learnt it, impressing Angel, especially when she had been able to back him up against the wall. Next time, he would be more careful-

"Angel, are you listening to me?" Buffy asked.

"Shh," Angel said, raising a hand.

She was about to reply back in anger, annoyed that he would dare quiet her like that, when she understood why he was shushing her: three vampires. They came lunging out of the darkness, snarling and baring fangs, as Buffy and Angel instantly went into combat mode, fighting together in perfect tandem, trading blows and positions between their opponents. The vampires didn't stand a chance, as they were each dusted within seconds of each other, the final vampire getting staked from the front and back by both Buffy and Angel, leaving them standing before each other. Angel took in a few deep unneeded breaths and that's when he caught the scent.

"Why do you have Faith all over you?"

Buffy's eyes widened, looking like the deer caught in the headlights. He could tell, he knew, she thought and he had a look on his face. Not wanting to deal with a situation that was now more awkward than before, Buffy took off into the night, leaving a very confused and somewhat hurt Angel behind.

††††††††††

The Bronze was surprisingly packed and pumping, red and green streamers stretching across the ceiling, while a small Christmas tree sat on the stage while the band played. Cordelia smiled to herself as she made her way through the crowd. This was her scene.

"Cordelia!" came a sudden shriek.

She turned around, putting on a fake smile when Harmony, Aura and a few others approached her and they all exchanged their basic pleasantries.

"So, how was Aspen?" Harmony asked, "We thought you wouldn't be back for another few days at least."

"Oh, it was fine," Cordelia lied, "Skiing is so overrated anyway, so we came back. Besides, how can I celebrate Christmas if it's not with you guys?"

"So true," Harmony agreed, making Cordelia do a mental eye roll, "Come on, let's dance."

She grabbed Cordelia's hand and dragged her out onto the floor, as Buffy, Willow and Xander soon arrived. After returning from her patrol, Buffy had been told of the Bronze's Christmas party and naturally, Xander wanted to go. Giles had suggested that Buffy go as well, much to her surprise, although it was mainly to keep an eye on the innocent people and protect them from any roaming vampires.

"Wow, this place is packed!" Xander exclaimed, "Check out the hotties."

"Like Cordelia over there?" Willow pointed out.

"Cordy's here? When did she get back?"

"Cordelia left?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, she said she was going to Aspen. Must have been a short trip."

Willow looked around the Bronze, spying someone familiar at the bar. She was about to tell Buffy, who had spotted Faith by the door and grabbed Xander, taking him out onto the dance floor. Watching her friends go, Willow looked unsure for a moment, before heading over to the bar where she joined Angel.

"Hi, Angel. Surprised to see you here," Willow said, "I thought vampires didn't exactly celebrate Christmas."

"Some of us do, in our own ways," Angel replied, keeping an eye out for vampires, his eyes settling on Cordelia for a moment, "Where's Buffy?"

"She's with Xander. I mean, she's dancing with Xander, she's not with him in that fact, just dancing, as friends and-"

"Willow, it's alright," Angel said, allowing himself a small smile, "You do know that Buffy and I broke up right?"

"I do and I'm sorry," Willow said sincerely, "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Angel said, looking over at Cordelia once more, before he finally caught sight of Buffy, his eyes lingering on her, "You should join them."

"But what about you, sitting here all alone. No one should be alone on Christmas."

"Willow, honestly, I'll be fine," Angel insisted, "Go, have fun."

"Okay, well, see you. Nice talking to you."

She gave him a small wave, before heading off towards the dance floor to join her friends, as Angel turned back to his drink. He was still in confusion over Faith's scent being on Buffy and while he had an idea of what might have happened between the two slayers, his mind was still struggling to comprehend it. Did Buffy really sleep with Faith? Had she really moved on from him that quickly or was it only a one-night fling, something to try and erase him from her system? Angel wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't want to ask her and find her, given how she had panicked and ran away the first one he mentioned it.

"Hey, I didn't think you would be here. Thought you'd be at home, brooding or something," came a very familiar voice.

"No one should be alone on Christmas," Angel said, drinking the scotch, "Besides, I'm keeping an eye out for any bad things."

"Angel, I've noticed that Buffy and Faith are here," Cordelia said, "As far as I know, you're not exactly a peoples' person. Or peoples' vampire. Whatever."

"Your point?"

"My point is - what is with the scotch? Why are you drinking again? Is this about Buffy? I swear I'm going to have a talk with that girl."

"It's fine, Cordelia," Angel said, "I'm about to go sort that vampire out over there, then I'm going to head home."

"Ooh, can I help? I wanna try out some of those moves you showed me."

Angel was about to decline her, but decided to humour her. He knew that he would be able to handle the vampire should anything go wrong and the whole point of training Cordelia had been so she could defend herself against vampires. With a nod, he guided her towards the exit, following the vampire and his potential victim. Meanwhile, from the dance floor, Xander watched the pair interact with each other, his suspicions raised. And when they left together, only to not return, his suspicions rose higher.

††††††††††


	9. Where I Stood 9

††††††††††

"Cordelia!"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, turning around to face Xander as he came running up to her. She waited with a bored expression on her face for him to catch his breath.

"Hurry up, Harris and spit it out. I've got classes to attend to."

"Is there something going on between you and Angel?" Xander asked.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

"You two left the Bronze together the other night. At the Christmas party."

"We were saving a damsel in distress-"

"Then, you guys didn't return," Xander finished.

Cordelia narrowed her eyes at her ex and he visibly flinched under the glare.

"What, you were spying on us? For your information, Xander, I went home after that. Sprained my ankle and Angel made sure I got home. Now, if you're done wasting my time, I'm going to class. Have a nice day."

Turning on her heel, Cordelia stormed away, as Xander watched her go with a sigh. Knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of his ex, he headed off to class, slipping inside just as the teacher began, taking his seat next to Buffy.

"I think there's something going on with Angel and Cordelia," Xander whispered to the Slayer once class had started.

She whipped around to face him, confusion on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"They left the Bronze together the other night and when I asked Cordelia about it just then, she just blew me off," Xander replied, "Just thought you should know."

"Xander, I don't think there's anything going on with Angel and Cordelia," Willow said, "I mean, it's Cordelia. She's way not Angel's type and as for Angel, well, he's in love with Buffy. Why would he be interested in Queen C?"

"Will's right, Xander," Buffy agreed, "I mean, Angel and Cordelia? Really? She's way too shallow and bitchy and he's all broody and…broody."

She was saying this mainly to try and calm her nerves, hoping that Angel hadn't moved on _that_ quickly and with Cordelia no less. The vapid, shallow cheerleader who cared about nothing but herself and clothes? Then again, Buffy knew that Cordelia had some interest in Angel. Was she really trying to pursue him? It was silly thinking really. Buffy knew that Angel would never be interested in someone like Cordelia. It was too silly to even try and comprehend. But still…the pair leaving from the Bronze together did put some doubts into Buffy's mind.

For Xander, the sight of Angel and Cordelia together brought out the hurt that he had kept buried since Cordelia dumped him. In truth, he had deserved it, after cheating on Cordelia and she ended up with a rebar through her stomach, but he loved and cared about her. And the thought that she had moved on, with Angel no less, dredged up feelings of hurt, loss and insecurity. He had thought Cordelia wouldn't be that foolish, after the whole Angelus incident of last year, but then, he decided to clamp down on those thoughts. Rationalising that it was simply a one-off thing, Xander decided to focus on that, believing that Cordelia had no interest in Angel whatsoever. At least he could take comfort in that thought and with it in mind, he turned to his schoolwork.

††††††††††

"Afternoon!"

Angel looked up from his book to see Cordelia standing in the doorway, although he wasn't altogether surprised that she was here. Her visits were starting somewhat regular, ever since he had agreed to train her and in all honesty, he found himself looking forward to her visits. There was something about Cordelia that he couldn't quite put his finger on, not that he was complaining, but he found her…interesting.

"How was school?" Angel asked, rising up from his spot beside the fireplace.

"Ugh, the big bore," Cordelia replied dismissively, dumping her schoolbag aside, "So can't wait until I get out of there. Graduation can't come soon enough."

She then looked at him and sent him an award-winning smile.

"So, ready to get your butt kicked by a girl?"

Angel smiled slightly. Her smile and enthusiasm was infectious.

"We'll see. Maybe one day, but not today."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'm gonna go change and I'll meet you there."

Hefting her gym bag up onto her shoulder, Cordelia headed upstairs to what could now be considered her room, seeing as how she sometimes stayed over and had even filled half the wardrobe with her clothes. Angel smiled to himself at that thought and headed off to get changed for the session, before joining Cordelia in the small training room and they continued on from where they left off.

Less than an hour later, Buffy entered the mansion, looking for Angel. Since hearing about him leaving the Bronze with Cordelia, Buffy had thinking about him, wondering if he really had already moved on. Throughout the day, she had been telling herself that Angel wouldn't have move on, not that quickly and especially not with Cordelia. But upon arriving at the mansion, she found Cordelia's car parked out front and her heart rate quickened with fear, as she hurried inside. Angel or Cordelia weren't in sight and no-one answered when she called out their names. She walked further into the mansion and was about to give up searching, when she caught sounds coming from nearby. Following the sounds, she entered the training room, where she found Angel and Cordelia sparring with each other. Angel was wearing a white wife beater and black slacks, while Cordelia wore a black crop top and tight black shorts, her hair tied back into a ponytail. The pair stopped their training upon Buffy's entrance, locked in close contact, as Buffy hurried out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Cordelia asked with a frown.

"Uh, take a break," Angel said, "I'll be back in a minute."

He raced out after Buffy, catching her just as she reached the door, stopping her exit, while careful not to stand in the fading sunlight.

"Buffy-"

"Is there something going on between you and Cordelia?" Buffy asked thickly.

He could smell the scent of oncoming tears and he wanted nothing more than to hold her close and kiss her tears away, but he resisted the urge to do so.

"No, we're just…friends," Angel replied.

It felt strange saying it, that he was friends with Cordelia, yet it felt right. He would never have contemplated ever being friends with the May Queen and yet he was. She was his first friend in decades, something he would never have considered with her.

"We were just training," Angel continued, "She wanted to learn how to defend herself and I figured there was nothing wrong with that."

"Angel, it's Cordelia," Buffy said, "She obviously wants something from you and not just lessons on how to defend herself."

"How could you say that? Besides, what's going on with you and Faith? You never answered me about that. I could smell her all over you."

"It's…it's none of your business," Buffy finished.

"Well, neither is this," Angel reasoned, "From what I understood, we broke up and you didn't want anything to do with me at all. So why start now?"

"I need to go," Buffy said.

She left the mansion, while Angel remained standing by the door, thoughts running through his head. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't hear Cordelia arrive until she spoke.

"Is she gone?"

"Yeah," Angel replied, "That concludes our lesson for the day."

He moved past her, heading to his own room, as Cordelia watched him go with a look of confusion and annoyance. She didn't like how Buffy seemed to drive Angel into intense brood mode, but she knew that right now, Angel needed some space. Picking up her gym bag, Cordelia cast one last look towards Angel's room and left.

††††††††††


	10. Where I Stood 10

††††††††††

The vampire gasped as the stake plunged into his heart and he burst into a shower of dust, as Buffy walked away from the scene, head bowed in thought. The image of Angel and Cordelia close by to each other kept flashing through her mind.

"Hey pretty - ack!" cried an arriving vampire.

"Not interested," Buffy replied, walking past the falling dust.

She continued on, lost in her thoughts and when she reached the end of the cemetery, she decided to head to the next one, hoping to find a few more vampires she could beat up to take her mind off the image of Angel and Cordelia.

_"How could he have moved on like that? And with _her_!"_

Reaching the next cemetery, Buffy heard the sounds of combat and quickened her pace, finding Faith fighting against three vampires. Drawing her stake, Buffy rushed in, staking one vampire from behind, then attacking another, as Faith noticed her and grinned, punching her vampire in the face, then staking him.

"Hey, B. Whatcha doing, girl?"

"Patrolling," Buffy replied, "And I'm going to keep doing just that."

"Hey, wait," Faith cried, grabbing hold of Buffy's arm, "That it? You're just gonna help me out, then leave me behind. What the hell is going on with you, B?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, ever since Christmas, you've been, how would I say it, blowing me off?"

"I don't want to think or know about what happened at that party."

"Why not? Scared you might have actually liked it?"

Buffy frowned and the next thing Faith knew, she was on the ground, nursing a bloodied lip, while Buffy was standing over her with a furious look on her face.

"Damn, B, what the hell?" Faith demanded, outraged.

"Nothing happened between us," Buffy gritted through her teeth.

"Why are you denying it? What are you trying to prove?" Faith asked, getting up.

"Don't go making something out of nothing," Buffy warned, "I'm asking you to let it go. Don't be chasing after me. Just forget about it."

"Kinda hard to 'just forget about it'. I mean-"

"Don't! I just said to not go there."

Faith grinned, "Oh I think I know what this is all about. Angel. You two break up and the best way you can comfort yourself is-"

Before she could even finish, she was back on the ground again. Spitting blood, she slowly got up and turned around to face Buffy, who was looking livid.

"Is that it, B?" Faith asked, "You're just gonna beat me into the ground because you're too damn afraid to confront-"

Buffy swung her fist again, but this time, Faith was ready and she smacked Buffy's fist aside, while spinning around and backhanding the blonde Slayer. Buffy retaliated with a kick to Faith's stomach, pushing her back towards a set of headstones. Faith caught herself from falling over and she parried Buffy's fist, but her other fist then crashed into Faith's jaw, knocking her over the headstones.

"Wow, guess you pretty are damn pissed about that night," Faith smirked.

"You just don't seem to know when to listen, do you?" Buffy said.

"Oh and you're gonna tell me what to do? Sorry, B, I ain't made like that. I don't take orders just because you feel like giving them. Just because you want to hide away from what happened doesn't mean I should."

She dodged Buffy's fist and kneed her in the stomach, before punching her in the face, but Buffy whirled around and landed a backhand. Faith aimed for a straight punch, as Buffy blocked, before swinging her other fist, but Faith caught it and grinned.

"Tell me, B, are you really that worried about hurting Angel's feelings by falling into bed with me? If anything, you've already hurt them real bad by dumping him."

"And you know all about Angel's feelings?" Buffy asked, "You wouldn't know a thing about love if it kicked you in the ass."

She shoved Faith back and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"You wouldn't understand."

Turning away, Buffy then left the cemetery, as Faith wiped the blood from her lips, watching her go, before getting up and also leaving the cemetery, though in the opposite direction from Buffy, as Angel stepped out of the darkness of a nearby bush. He had been out patrolling when he caught hold of Faith's scent and wanting to question her about Buffy, he followed it to the cemetery, where he witnessed the confrontation between the two Slayers. Now, it had been confirmed for him that something indeed had happened between the two girls and he wasn't sure what to make of it, as he set off towards home, head bowed deep in thought. Just as he reached the cemetery gate, a vampire leapt out in front of him, wielding a sword.

"Careful. You could poke someone's eye out with that," Angel warned.

"By the El Eliminati, you shall die!"

"You even know how to use that thing?"

The vampire snarled and swung his sword, but Angel dodged the swing, but the vampire was apparently gifted in swordplay, the blade slicing through the air and Angel's shirt. He growled, catching hold of the vampire's wrist and punching him in the face. Kicking his legs out from underneath him, Angel flipped the vampire onto his back, before disarming him of the sword and slicing downwards. The vampire burst into dust, as Angel noticed the etchings on the blade.

††††††††††

"How was patrol?" Willow asked.

"Got a few vamps, ran into Faith, nothing special," Buffy replied.

"The small bruise from vamps or Faith?" Xander asked.

"Uh, vampires. Hey, Giles…and Faith."

"Morning, Buffy," Giles greeted, "Xander, Willow, how are you?"

"Hey, B and friends," Faith smiled.

"Faith, you're in the library," Xander said, "Feeling out of your comfort zone?"

"I could drag you into my comfort zone if you like. Whether you'd be a punching bag or something else is up to you."

"Can I be the something else?"

"Punching bag it is."

"Alright, enough," Giles said, "Buffy, how was patrol?"

She shrugged, "Nothing too major. Pretty standard. If that."

She ignored the glare that she knew Faith was sending her and instead focused on what Giles was telling her. Apparently, he wanted her to investigate a group of sword wielding vampires that had recently arrived in town and had been discovered by Angel. Upon hearing Angel's name, Buffy perked up, causing Faith to frown.

"Angel was here?"

"Yes, he was," Giles replied, "He gave me the sword and told me about the group. He'll help investigate tonight."

"No, I'll do it by myself," Buffy said, "I can handle it alone."

"Well, you don't have to do it alone," Xander said, "We're here to help as well."

"I know, but I really don't want to be picking up pieces of you, Xander."

"Take Faith with you," Giles said.

Before Buffy could reply, Faith grinned, "Yeah, sure, I can help her. We'll have it done before you know it, Giles."

"Good to know. Now, off to class the lot of you. And watch out for Principal Snyder. He seems to be on a bit of a warpath today."

"Got it," Buffy said, "Warpath equals expulsion, so we'll get going now."

††††††††††

Angel struck the punching bag, so lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Cordelia enter.

"Ahem. Is this a private catharsis or can anyone join?"

"Cordelia, you're here," Angel said upon turning around.

"Well, yeah. Training session. Unless you're too broody and don't want to."

She turned to leave, but Angel was suddenly before her.

"No, stay. We can do some training today."

Cordelia beamed a smile and left the training room to get changed, as Angel waited for her to return. Once she did, they started their lesson, with Angel impressed on how much Cordelia had improved. She was starting to become a skilled fighter and even showed it by managing to hit Angel square on the nose.

"Oh damn, are you alright?" Cordelia asked, "I think I hit a little too hard there."

"No, it's fine," Angel said, "Didn't hurt that much."

"Okay, good. I'm gonna take a break now."

As she walked over to her water bottle, Angel held his nose in pain and winced, but quickly hid his pain when Cordelia returned. They continued their session, until Angel managed to get Cordelia into a lock by pinning her arms, then took her legs out and softly dropped her to the floor. He gave her a small smile, before helping her to her feet, noticing how close she was standing to him now…and how close her lips was to his when she looked up at him. Cordelia was about to say something, but had also noticed how close Angel was and how close his lips were. She felt an urge to lean in and claim those lips as her own, as Angel felt a spark and he wanted to close the gap, just take her in his arms and claim her as his. Unknowingly, Cordelia and Angel started to close the gap, when Cordelia's phone rang and she drew away from him to answer it. As she spoke on the phone, Angel turned his back, running a hand through his hair. Did he just nearly kiss her? Did he really wanted to?

"I've gotta go," Cordelia said, "Thanks for today, Angel."

He nodded numbly as she left, leaving him in his thoughts of her.

††††††††††


	11. Where I Stood 11

††††††††††

"Great work girls," Cordelia praised, "We'll meet again tomorrow."

"We're soo gonna get them this weekend," Harmony cried, "I can't wait."

"That's nice, Harm."

"So, you studying or Bronzing with us tonight?"

"Bronzing. I so need a break from study. It totally sucks."

Harmony nodded her agreement, before saying goodbye and leaving the hall, as Cordelia turned to pack the equipment away. She had thought about training with Angel again, but decided she deserved a break. Besides, it had been a while since she'd gone out, too wrapped up in her sessions with Angel and she was dying to go to the Bronze. Once she had put the cassette player away, Cordelia turned to leave but found that she wasn't alone anymore.

"Cordelia," Buffy greeted shortly.

"Oh hi, Buffy," Cordelia said without any enthusiasm, "How'd you go finding that vampire cult?"

"Fine, I guess. But that's not what I'm here about."

Cordelia sighed and rolled her eyes. She so did not want to hear Buffy whine on about Angel. As far as Cordelia was concerned, Buffy had dumped Angel and should just leave him alone. He was upset enough as it was without the Slayer making it worse by having mad jealousy episodes over nothing.

"Well, hurry it up and spit it out," Cordelia said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Is there something going on between you and Angel?"

The idea alone was preposterous enough for Cordelia to burst out laughing. Her and Angel? Seriously. Apparently, Buffy wasn't pleased by Cordelia's laughter, which made the cheerleader laugh harder as she struggled to regain her breath.

"Me and Angel? That's a good one, Buffy. But really, what's it to you if it was the case? He's not your boyfriend anymore, remember?"

"Well, I-"

"We're just friends. And I asked him to train me so I can actually defend myself so I don't have to rely on waiting for you to save me all the time."

"Still-" Buffy started, but Cordelia could see where this was going.

"You walked away from him and from what I heard, you wanted nothing to do with him," Cordelia said, "So don't be chasing after him and treating him like a child. You hurt him, Buffy, but of course, you only care about yourself."

The fist snapped around that fast, Cordelia barely had time to block, yet she managed in time, pain shooting up and down her arm, as she struggled to hold the block, while Buffy was looking on in surprise, unable to believe that Cordelia Chase, cheerleading queen and town bitch, had actually been able to block one of her punches.

"Geez, Buffy, violent much? Yeah, Angel taught me well. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home now."

Turning away from the Slayer, Cordelia picked up her schoolbag and left the hall, while Buffy remained there, the cheerleader's words playing through her head. Wanting to clear her mind, Buffy decided to see Giles, check if he had got anything new on the El Eliminati, then head out for patrol after dinner, all the while thinking on how Cordelia's words. There was more going on than Cordelia was letting on and Buffy was determined to find out. She couldn't understand this sudden need to be overprotective of Angel, but it didn't matter. Angel was hers, regardless of whether or not they were together. The thought of Angel moving on with Cordelia was absurd.

Leaving the hall, Buffy headed to the library to speak to Giles, surprise appearing on her face when she saw that Angel was there, talking to her Watcher.

"Ah, Buffy, you're here," Giles said, "Good."

Buffy was focused on Angel, who was too focused on the book he had in hand, as if he was trying very hard not to capture her eyes, although he did glance up at her arrival, only to turn his attention back to the book.

"We're just investigating the El Eliminati," Giles said, "I'm not sure what their connection to the Mayor is, but I'm sure it can't be any good."

During patrol the previous night, Buffy and Faith had followed an El Eliminati vampire to the city council and upon breaking in, the pair had found a collection of the cult's swords placed away in the Mayor's office. Unable to have time to fully investigate, Buffy and Faith retreated, reporting back to Giles on their discovery. Since then, Giles had been going through his books, trying to find some kind of connection, having deduced that the Mayor was involved in something supernatural due to the vampires he had patrolling the premises.

"Do you think you and Angel could investigate further?" Giles asked, "Break into the council once more and see what the Mayor is up to?"

"Sure, we can do that," Buffy agreed, "Right, Angel?"

"Sure," he replied shortly, still not looking up, "We'll go now."

Throwing the book onto the desk, he stood up and headed straight for the doors. Giles and Buffy shared a look, as the latter went into the office to grab a stake and head out of the library, following after her ex-boyfriend.

"So, what really is going on with you and Cordelia?" Buffy asked once they left the school premises.

"What's going on with you and Faith?" Angel asked, "No lies, Buffy."

"It was just…a thing. We got really, really drunk one night and I don't remember much of that night," Buffy replied, "She's been making a huge deal out of it and I've been trying to forget it. In all honesty, I don't think anything much really happened."

Angel nodded, digesting this. He had been thinking about it lately, before coming to the conclusion that since Buffy didn't want him in her life anymore, he had no reason to worry about what she was now doing with her life, even if she was off possibly sleeping with Faith. It wasn't his business anymore. Buffy had made it clear.

"So," Buffy said, trying to inject some enthusiasm in her voice, "Here we are, patrolling together again. It's been a while. Feels like a long time."

"That's because you didn't want me in your life," Angel replied.

He had been trying hard not to look at his ex as they headed towards the city council, but it was hard. Here she was, right beside him and although they had had a messy break-up, Angel couldn't help the same old feelings he had for her rising up. It was hard to resist, he was hopelessly in love with Buffy, although thanks to Cordelia, he was trying hard to move on, to look towards a better future. Then, his thoughts drifted to the cheerleader who was trying so hard to make his life brighter and a tiny smile graced his face briefly, even as he thought about how close he had come to kissing her the previous night. Sometimes during his brooding last night, Angel often thought back to the near kiss and sometimes he found himself wishing he had kissed her. He always knew that Cordelia used to have something for him and for some bizarre reason, he was interested to find out if she still had those feelings.

"Okay, Angel, let's stop and talk for a moment," Buffy said.

Angel had to resist the urge to sigh as he paused in their patrol.

"Look, I know what I said to you when we broke up hurt you. Believe me, it hurt me so much to say them. But I still love you, Angel. Sometimes I wish we never broke up and I just…I just wanna have that back. When we were together. Do you still think there's a chance for us? Do you want us to be together again?"

Angel looked in her eyes and he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. But for some strange reason, a small part of him wasn't agreeing to that idea and even more strange, he was agreeing with it. He was still in love with Buffy, but he couldn't imagine them still together in the future, especially if this was how it was going to keep going: them breaking up and then getting back together, a complete merry-go-round. But even despite that, Angel knew that he and Buffy couldn't truly be friends. Damn Spike and his insightfulness.

"I don't know, Buffy. I don't think we should be together just yet," Angel said.

"Is it because you really have moved on?" Buffy asked.

"No, I haven't. But I can't keep sitting here, waiting for the next time you'll drive the figurative stake into my heart again. I just can't do that, Buffy. You may think that small fling of yours with Faith is nothing, but it felt like you had moved on."

"I haven't. I just said, I'm still in love with you, Angel. And that I'm sorry for what I did," Buffy said, "I was hoping you could forgive me."

"Honestly, Buffy, I think you're only doing this because you feel guilty about Faith," Angel said, "And you're trying to ease that by getting back with me again."

"Hey, excuse me-"

But Angel shook his head, cutting her off, "We shouldn't get back together, Buffy. I'm sorry. I love you, but it just doesn't feel right. Maybe we could just be friends."

"Yeah, I guess," Buffy said dejectedly, "We should continue."

Before Angel could say anything, Buffy stormed off and he sighed, feeling upset that he had rejected her and yet somehow, he felt relieved that he did. It was like a small weight had been lifted off his chest and he felt all the better for it. Seeing that she wasn't slowly down, Angel hurried up to catch up with her.

††††††††††


	12. Where I Stood 12

††††††††††

Buffy groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, frowning when the wall in front of her didn't immediately look familiar. Frowning, she sat upright, the cool air on her skin telling her she was naked and she quickly clutched the sheets to her chest, before looking around the near-bare room and a knot formed in her throat.

_"Oh God. Don't tell me."_

Hesitantly, she looked over her shoulder, not surprised to see Faith sleeping in the bed beside her. In the same bed! With her! Buffy groaned, clapping a hand to her forehead as she recounted the previous night's events. Following her discussion with Angel and the subsequent invasion of the city council, Buffy had gone to Faith's apartment in a very bad mood, upset that Angel, _ANGEL_, had turned her down and in the haze of confusion and anger, Buffy initiated what could only be described as an intense session with her fellow Slayer.

Quietly slipping out of bed, Buffy slid her clothes on, before leaving the apartment, thankful that Faith hadn't woke up, as she headed towards home, disgust and confusion rolling off her in such waves that an empath demon would've been able to pick it up ten miles away. Wondering how on earth she had managed to get herself in this position (blaming Angel), Buffy stormed off towards home, thankful at least that it was the weekend and that she didn't have to worry about school. She had more important things to deal with, like how she was going to deal with Faith once she woke up and began pursuing her again. Buffy shuddered, knowing she only had herself to blame, but surely, some blame could be placed on Faith. After all, wasn't it Faith who dragged her out to that party where it all started? True, Buffy didn't have to agree to go, but she had wanted to get Angel off her mind and it seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, she was stuck with a problem bigger than before and she didn't know how she was going to solve it.

_"Who can I tell? Can I tell Xander and Willow? Will they understand? I guess Will can. She'll understand."_

Heading to her friend's home, Buffy knocked and waited for Willow to answer. However, to her mild surprise, it was actually Oz who answered the door.

"Oz, hi," Buffy greeted, "Um, why are you shirtless?"

"Just woke up," Oz replied, "Willow's in the living room. Come in."

Buffy thanked him and stepped inside, where she found Willow in the living room, seated on a mattress and still in her pyjamas, while watching TV.

"Morning, Buffy."

"Hey, Will. Movie night?"

Willow nodded, "Yep, we watched _Cruel Intentions_."

"Right, well, Will, can we talk?"

"Um, sure. In the kitchen?"

Buffy nodded and followed Willow out into the kitchen, leaving Oz to pack away the sheets and mattress, as the girls sat at the bench, Willow waiting patiently for Buffy to speak, although she seemed more interested in wrangling her hands together.

"I've slept with Faith," Buffy said finally.

Willow's eyes widened, "As in sleeping together in bed, snuggling like me and Oz or as in…well…you know…the other thing?"

Buffy hesitated, "The other thing."

"Oh," Willow said, then realisation fully dawned with what she meant, "Oh! Really? How, uh, I mean yeah, how? And why? And what about Angel?"

Buffy shrugged, "It just kinda happened. The night before our Christmas party, Faith and I went to this other party, got drunk and then I woke up in bed with her."

"Oh God. What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, she keeps pursuing me, but it was a one-off thing and we were both very drunk…or at least I was…so we didn't have total control over ourselves and I just want to forget about the whole thing."

"But she won't," Willow said in an understanding tone.

"What am I going to do?" Buffy asked, mostly to herself.

"I don't know, Buffy. You could try ignoring her, but there's that whole slaying thing you gotta do together and that would make things awkward and all. Oh, perhaps she could leave town. Maybe there's somewhere else that needs a Slayer. You could ask Giles. He'd know."

"Yeah, I guess he would. Look, I wanna get my mind off her and just focus on something else. Let's go out, my treat."

††††††††††

"Angel!"

Angel groaned, reluctantly turning the hot shower off and quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist as he raced upstairs to see who was calling him. Whoever it was, it sounded like it was urgent. Reaching the living room, he stopped short when he found Cordelia in the doorway and he felt a sudden need to cover himself up. Cordelia, on the other hand, found herself subconsciously licking her lips at the sight of his muscled chest and sculpted abs.

_"Hello salty goodness indeed."_

"Cordelia, what's wrong?" Angel asked, taking in her distressed look, _"Did she really just lick her lips?"_

"Uh," Cordelia said, shaking herself out of her reverie, _"Wow, he is _gorgeous_! Just look at that body! Why on Earth would Buffy dump someone like him? Oh well, her loss. _I have a history exam coming up and I need help."

Angel simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, causing Cordelia to sigh in exasperation.

"I'm coming to you because you're so old and therefore you would know a lot of things that could help me pass this exam. It's kinda important."

"Uh, can I get dressed first? Then we can start."

_"How about we start now?"_ Cordelia thought, stopping herself in time before she spoke her thoughts, "Yeah, sure."

Angel absentmindedly nodded, still wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him with Cordelia licking her lips, but he soon left for his room, drying himself and getting dressed, rejoining Cordelia in the living room, where she was waiting on the lounge, a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, as Angel sat on the couch.

"Alright, so what do you wanna know?" he asked.

The day wore on as Angel told Cordelia certain facts about history, how mankind had changed over the past two hundred and fifty years. He had witnessed the world change multiple times over and each time, he had been fascinated by the advancements humanity made. The notebook and pen were soon forgotten as Cordelia became mesmerized by his stories, briefly wondering if Buffy had ever heard about them, but she quickly ignored the thought, caught in rapture by Angel's voice as he recalled fond memories of humanity's growth, even if fond memories involved death. Night had fallen, but it went unnoticed by the pair, while someone was watching them interact from outside the mansion, staring inside with a hateful sneer on his face.

"Got yourself a nice little filly, huh Angelus?" Spike said, "Don't enjoy her for too long. Uncle Spike'll take care of her for you."

††††††††††

"Yo, B, thought I'd find you here!"

Buffy sighed as she hopped off the headstone she'd been sitting on, waiting for a vampire to rise; and she turned to face a grinning Faith.

"Before you say anything…actually, don't say anything," Buffy started, "What happened shouldn't have happened, so let's leave it at that."

"What was so bad about it all?"

"Look, Faith, I'm in love with Angel! I don't want you."

Faith was about to angrily retort, when a group of vampires arrived, led by an African-American vampire dressed in a smart red suit and a self-satisfied smirk, one that Buffy and Faith had previously dealt with before.

"Well, well, well," Mr. Trick grinned, "Here we are, two Slayers. The Mayor really doesn't want you messing his plans up, so boys…kill them."

The vampires snarled and moved into battle, as Buffy and Faith intercepted them. Faith kicked a vampire right between the legs, before punching him in the face, as Buffy instantly staked a vampire, before intercepting a second vampire and staking him through the back. A third vampire lunged at her, but Buffy struck him with a backhand, knocking him to the ground, then staking him in the heart.

"Boys, boys, boys, you're making me disappointed," Mr. Trick said.

Faith slammed her elbow into a vampire's jaw, before swinging the stake into a second vampire's heart, then staking the vampire she held. A third vampire came leaping at her with a spinning high kick, but Faith ducked, tripping the vampire up, then ramming the stake into his heart, soon leaving only five vampires left.

Mr. Trick grinned and went straight for Buffy, slugging her in the face. She went for a punch, but he knocked her fist aside and struck her again. She pushed off a headstone, cracking Mr. Trick in the jaw, as he then charged her, knocking her to the ground and wrapping his hands around her throat. Buffy gasped, struggling to throw him off, but he bore his full weight upon her, pinning her to the ground by her throat.

"Say goodnight, Slay - urgh! Oh, this doesn't feel right. This doesn't-"

He promptly burst into dust, as Faith helped Buffy to her feet and together, they battled against the remainder of the leaderless vampires.

††††††††††


	13. Where I Stood 13

††††††††††

Buffy wandered towards her home, intent on slipping into bed and sleeping for the next day and a half. Following the fight against Mr. Trick and his small gang, Faith and Buffy had gone their separate ways, with Faith going who knows where and Buffy nearing her home. Until someone stepped in her way.

"Hello, cutie," Spike grinned.

"Oh God, what the hell are you doing back here?" Buffy demanded.

"What can I say, pet? I missed you."

"Go away, Spike, I don't have time for you. Leave town and don't ever come back."

"Why? I like this town. Places to go, people to eat, Slayers to kill."

Buffy growled in her throat, her hand itching to plunge the stake into his annoying, non-beating heart and watch him turn to dust. That would make her feel better.

"So, where's Dru?" Buffy asked, "She dump you again? You here to continue your drunken pining? Could you do it somewhere else, like, Russia?"

Spike's jaw clenched and his hands curled into fists. In truth, Drusilla had dumped him again, taking off for Europe. Crushed, Spike had been travelling around California, getting smashed (both through alcohol and fighting) in Los Angeles, before deciding to return to Sunnydale, putting all his blame on Angelus and Buffy. He figured it was their fault Drusilla didn't want him anymore and that the pair should pay, preferably with their lives. This time, he was going a different way around it. For starters, he wasn't drunk, which should make things easier. Well, not drunk much. If anything, he was just a little bit tipsy after downing that bottle of whiskey earlier.

"She doesn't matter," Spike growled, "But you do. If you hadn't slept with Angel, Angelus wouldn't have returned and Dru would still be mine."

"Tell someone who cares. I clearly don't. Now, I'm tired and in need of sleep, which is why you're still alive, Spike. Take a hint."

"Sure, luv," Spike grinned, vamping out, "It means you're easier to kill."

He growled and punched Buffy in the face, knocking her to the ground, before kicking the stake from her hand, then grabbed her off the ground and punched her again.

"This is so not my night. And I'm so not in the mood."

Spike swung his fist, but Buffy blocked and punched him in the chest, followed by a swift blow to his jaw. He staggered and she moved for her stake, but he grabbed her from behind and slung her onto the road, before moving in again, only to get kicked in the shin, giving Buffy the chance to get up and punch him twice in the face.

"How's Angel?" Spike asked, blocking Buffy's fist, "I see he's got himself a new lass in his life. Pretty little thing too."

Buffy punched him in the face, slamming two swift punches into his stomach, as he retaliated with a blow to her face and he followed with a kick, but she blocked, her fist smacking his face and making that noise she enjoyed so much when she hit him.

"Ooh, struck a nerve. You two not together any more?"

"It's none of your business," Buffy growled.

She aimed a kick for his groin, but he caught her foot and wagged his finger at her, before flipping her over onto her front. Buffy put her hands out in front to stop her face from smacking into the road, as Spike picked her up and she rammed her elbow into his ribs, knocking him back.

"I think it is. Guess I finally put some sense into your pretty little head. So, who dumped who first this time? You or Angel?"

Buffy paused in her fighting, answering Spike with her silence and he chuckled.

"Good job, Slayer. He's too much of a bleeding mop. Don't know how you put up with him, what with his 'I'm-so-tormented-cause-I-can't-get-laid' thing and all."

"My God, do you ever shut up?" Buffy demanded.

"Oh, speaking of which, who's the new fella?" Spike asked, "I can smell him…wait, not him…oh wow, Slayer, you banged another girl. Wish I'd been there for that."

"Vampires and your smelling. Anyone ever tell you that's gross?"

"If they did, they didn't live long afterwards."

Growling, Spike rushed Buffy with a spinning roundhouse kick, as she dropped and swept his legs out from underneath him, before straddling his waist, only to realise that she didn't have a stake in hand, as he grinned and kicked her off.

"Who would've thought that Little Miss Preppy and Uptight went taboo and slept with a girl. Tell me, was she good? Was it good? Did you record it?"

"You're sick," Buffy groaned.

"No, just curious. I always knew Angel was a prancing poof, but I didn't know he could turn girls gay. Sad and amusing that he did it to you."

"I'm not gay. It was just a drunken, one-off thing," Buffy growled, hitting him.

"Even better," Spike grinned, deflecting Buffy's punch and striking her.

Buffy punched him in the jaw and he spun around from the blow, parrying her next punch as his own fist slammed into her stomach. She gasped, winded by the blow and he moved in behind her, grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her back, baring his fangs, but she swung her head back, connecting with his nose. Spike staggered, holding his nose, as Buffy pivoted with a kick that caught him on the side of the head. Flipping up onto his feet, Spike just managed to catch the stake in time, struggling to hold it from his heart, as he grinned upon looking at Buffy's face.

"You're so cute when you're trying to kill me. Wonder what you be like if you tried to shag me? Now that would be interesting."

"What?"

Smacking the stake aside, Spike grabbed Buffy by the back of her hair, pulling her close and slamming his lips against hers. Stupid whiskey. He shouldn't have drank it all, now here he was, making out with the Slayer instead of killing her. What would the others say about this? But that said, she seemed to be enjoying it, kissing him in earnest and he wondered how it all came to this, but discarded that train of thought as the blood left his brain and rushed elsewhere. In need of a breath, Buffy pulled back, reality slamming into her at full force and anger marred her features, as Spike licked his fangs, enjoying the taste of Slayer on his lips. Yep, it was all the whiskey's fault.

"Mm, definitely not gay. I guess that's why Angel went for you, Slayer. Damn, you're good. He taught you a few things, I'd wager, but I could teach you so much-"

Her fist slammed into his chin with such force he was lifted off his feet and he landed on his back, still euphoric from the kiss, as Buffy glared at him with disgust, deciding that staking him wasn't worth her time and she stalked off towards home. Spike chuckled to himself, slipping back into his human features as he crossed his arms behind his head, thinking about the kiss.

He didn't know why he had initiated it (somewhere in his subconscious told him it was something to do with Dru telling him that he loved the Slayer. As if!), but he was, for some reason, glad he did. She tasted of all things nice, with a little bit of naughty thrown in and he decided he could have some real fun with her. But then he frowned, wondering why on earth he was thinking of pursuing the Slayer instead of killing her and reasoned that it was the kiss's fault for making him confused. Wanting to get his mind off the Slayer, Spike turned his focus to Angel and the desire to hurt him. Getting up from the road, Spike sauntered off towards the mansion, thinking of ways of causing his grandsire great pain, when he reached the mansion and saw Cordelia leaving the building, heading towards her car. A grin formed on his face and he ducked amongst the bushes, keeping an eye on the window to make sure that Angel wasn't in sight, before making his move. Sneaking up towards the cheerleader, Spike clamped a hand over her mouth, his arm pinning hers to her body as she struggled in his grip, but he held fast, chuckling in her ear.

"Now listen here, chit. If you don't want to be found dead by Grandpoof, I suggest you stay quiet and get into the car. A single noise out of you and you're dead. Simple? Nod if you understand."

Cordelia nodded, causing Spike to break out into a grin.

"So glad we understand each other. Now, get in the car. No noise or else."

Slowly, Spike removed his hands, ready to quieten her if she so much as opened her mouth to squeak, but Cordelia remained quiet and got into the car, as Spike moved into the driver's seat, caressing the steering wheel once he adjusted the seat.

"Corvette. Nice. Let's take it for a spin, shall we pet?"

Starting up the car, Spike spun the wheels and sped off from the mansion. Unfortunately, he didn't have a destination in mind, as he knew he couldn't use the factory again. That would be the first place the Slayer, Peaches and everyone would look, so that was out of the question. Where to instead?

"You must be Spike," Cordelia said, "Did you dip your head into a radioactive vat, cause that style is so Billy Idol."

"Hey, I had this style before Idol, alright," Spike growled, "You know my name, so you must know my reputation. William the Bloody. And I didn't get that nickname cause I'm a vampire either. I'll leave it up to your imagination."

"I'm not scared of you. From what I've heard, you're not as scary as Angelus."

"Listen, chit, I've killed two Slayers with my bare hands, which is two more than Angelus, who slept with one. Your pal will be number three, so shut up."

At last, he had a destination in mind and he sped off towards it.

††††††††††

Mayor Richard Wilkins was about to leave his office, ready to head home and disappointed that he hadn't heard from Trick yet. However, when he opened the office door, he was surprised to find Faith standing before him.

"I hear you have a job open," Faith said.

††††††††††


	14. Where I Stood 14

††††††††††

The door burst open and Willie the Snitch barely had time to look up from his cleaning before he was suddenly pulled over the counter by a pissed-off Angel.

"Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Willie asked, "There's a lot of hes."

"Spike. I know he's back in town. Now where is he?"

"Spike's in town? Colour me surprised."

Angel growled threateningly, "Don't play games with me, Willie, unless you really want to end up like Miss. Calender. Now stop wasting my time and tell me what I want to know. Where is he?"

"Alright, alright, alright," Willie cried, "You can unhand me," a growl told him otherwise, "Okay, never mind. I've heard Spike's back in town, but he paid me to keep quiet in case you showed up."

"You really want me to start breaking bones?"

"No thanks. No breaking required. Spike didn't say where he was going, but I can tell you he wouldn't be going back to the factory. He'll be somewhere else."

"And you wouldn't know where, would you?"

"Sorry, Angel, I don't. All I know is that he's back. I can't tell you any much more than that. Are you trying to kill each other again?"

"You hear from him, you let me know, got it?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. You know you can count on me. I'm your friend, Angel."

Angel shoved him back with a growl, before leaving the pub with a door slam.

††††††††††

"Why the hell did you come back?" Cordelia asked, "I thought you were long gone chasing after your crazy ex-psycho. Pity."

Spike rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his whiskey. They were currently holed up in a small motel just outside of Sunnydale and he was waiting for the sun to go down. Cordelia was on the bed with her hands bound behind her back and her ankles were bound as well. She did have a gag, but Spike had gotten bored of the silence and removed it, though he threatened to kill her if she screamed. Not that it mattered really, there was only one other person staying at the motel apart from the them and the receptionist. Now he was regretting removing her gag.

"You still got Angel-daddy issues?"

"You're starting to become an issue."

"Well, you did kidnap me. Maybe you should have taken it into consideration."

"Look, I just want Angel-"

"I knew Drusilla was just a cover!"

Spike gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to kill her, "Dead, chit, I want him dead. Seeing how cuddly you two are, I figured it'd be the best way to draw him out."

"Angel and I are just friends," Cordelia said, "Why don't you go after Buffy instead? That way, she can finally stake you."

"I don't think Slayer would be killing me anytime soon."

"Why, you gonna make a whole heartfelt speech to her?"

Spike shrugged, "Dunno. Might."

"Oh my God! Are you in love with Buffy?" Cordelia cried, "What is with that girl? Vampires want to smooch her instead of killing her. I don't get it."

"Well, she's a great kisser for someone who's been macking on only Angel. And no, I don't love her. Well, I dunno. Every time I get close to killing her, I hold back. It's like I enjoy this dance that we do."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. She was _so_ not interested in hearing some vampire go on a moon-eyed, mushy speech on how perfect Buffy was and yadda yadda yadda. That crap had gotten old years old and someone needed to give Spike a reality check.

"You do know Buffy's still into Angel," Cordelia said, "And besides, what makes you think Buffy's gonna go for you?"

"Animal attraction," Spike grinned, "But you know what's amazing? When I fought the Slayer earlier, guess what I discovered."

"Unfortunately, not a stake in your heart."

"Slayer's been leg-locking with another girl."

"I know vampires lie and all, but really, tell a better one. And even if that's true, that means there's less chance for you. Like, really miniscule."

"I'm not looking for a chance with the Slayer-"

"Denial," Cordelia sang, "And not just a river in Egypt either."

Spike took in a deep, unneeded breath, "Yeah and you're not into Captain Forehead? I can tell you want him real bad. Sorry, but he likes blondes."

"Angel and I are just friends and-"

"Now who's in denial?" Spike smirked.

"Ugh! You are so annoying," Cordelia cried, "Because of you, I have a scar!"

Spike frowned. He couldn't recall scarring her and he looked to her for an answer.

"The factory earlier this year? If you hadn't kidnapped Xander and Willow, I wouldn't have been impaled on that rebar."

"Uh, sorry?"

"But, in a way, that was a good thing, cause I found out what a bastard Xander is. Really, cheating on me with Willow? If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have known."

"You're welcome? If you like, I could kill him for you."

"No thanks. I don't need someone like _you_ killing anyone for me."

"Would you be okay with Angel killing him?"

"I'm okay with Angel killing you," Cordelia retorted.

Spike rolled his eyes, "Didn't answer my question, chit."

"No! Is it always kill, kill, kill with you?"

"Yes," Spike stated simply, "Occasionally, it's kill, kill, shag, shag, kill."

"You're disgusting. Don't talk to me. Our conversation is done."

She huffed and turned away from him. Spike chuckled at her attitude, knowing that Angel would be having his hands full with this one. At least he knew that this girl would not be putting up with any of the whole 'Romeo and Juliet' drama, which would be a step up for Angel from Buffy and perhaps give him a chance.

_"Okay, where the hell did that come from? Maybe I've been with Drusilla too long. I'm starting to lose my mind. I need to kill something. That'll make things better."_

††††††††††

Buffy entered the library, hoping that Giles would be able to solve her small dilemma with Faith, but stopped short when she saw her Watcher talking to a young, bespectacled man with black hair and wearing a grey suit. He was currently holding a briefcase, as Giles spotted Buffy and ended the conversation.

"Buffy, what brings you here?"

"Ahem."

"Yes, sorry," Giles said, "Buffy, this is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce of the Watchers' Council. Wesley, as you know, this is my Slayer, Buffy Summers."

"A pleasure to meet you," Wesley smiled, extending his hand.

Buffy simply looked at his hand, then at Giles.

"We need to talk. Spike's back in town."

"What?" Giles cried, "What brings him back here?"

"William the Bloody?" Wesley asked, "What brings him to Sunnydale?"

"What brings you to Sunnydale?" Buffy retorted.

"I'm here as Faith's Watcher and to check on Giles' progress with you."

"Giles doesn't need a pro-" Buffy started.

"Buffy, please, Spike," Giles said, "He's a priority."

"I thought the Mayor was the priority."

"He still is, but Spike's taken over. Where did you see him?"

"Last night. We fought and," Buffy said, _"We kissed and it was like my soul was on fire._ He got away."

She figured that was all she could really say. There was no way Giles was ever going to find out that she had kissed Spike. If she could help it, no one was ever going to know. She couldn't understand it, but there was something about Spike's kiss that made it burn with far more intensity than any kiss with Angel.

"Did he happen to say why he was back in Sunnydale?" Giles asked.

"No, he didn't," Buffy replied, "I'm going to try and find him now. Maybe Willie knows something. I thought I'd give you a heads-up, just in case."

"I appreciate it, Buffy. Now go and find him."

"And if you see Faith, send her to me," Wesley called.

Buffy ignored him as she left the library.

††††††††††

"Ah, nightfall," Spike grinned, "Wonder where he is?"

"He'll be here," Cordelia said.

"He bloody well better be. Though, who would want to come to their death?"

"You do obviously. You came back to Sunnydale."

Spike rolled his eyes and wondered for the hundredth time why he hadn't killed the cheerleader. After all, Angel wasn't going to be walking away alive, so there was no reason why she should remain alive. With this in mind, Spike vamped out and turned towards Cordelia, as she tried to scramble back on the bed, but at that moment, the door burst off its hinges and a vamped-out Angel stepped into the room.

"Angelus! You're here!" Spike cried, "This is going to be fun!"

"This time, Spike, you're not walking out of here alive," Angel growled.

††††††††††


	15. Where I Stood 15

††††††††††

"I think you've got it wrong, mate," Spike grinned, "I'm leaving here alive. You're leaving here in an urn."

Two vampires burst into the room, grabbing Angel by his arms and slamming him against the wall, as Cordelia recognised one of the vampires as the receptionist and she realised where Spike had gone earlier and what he had done.

"Huh, this is kinda easy," Spike said, drawing a stake from his duster.

He approached his sire and raised the stake, but Angel kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back, then swung his arms, slamming the two vampires into each other. As they staggered back in a dazed state, Angel took a stake from his coat and staked both of them, as Spike rushed in, slamming the stake into Angel's lower back. He cried out, his elbow smashing into Spike's face and he hit the floor.

"Angel!" Cordelia cried, _"Oh God, this could get pretty bad."_

Angel swung his fist, but Spike ducked and cracked his sire across the jaw, then kicked him in the stomach, before grabbing him into a headlock. Angel responded by grabbing Spike around the legs, lifting him up, then slamming him to the ground, before hissing in pain from the stake in his back. He reached around and pulled it out, growling against the pain, as Spike slugged him in the face.

"Careful now, Peaches. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to the chit."

"You should have stayed gone, Spike," Angel growled, "Now, I'm going to kill you."

He swung the stake, but Spike blocked his arm and grabbed his head, slamming their heads together. Angel dropped the stake in shock, as Spike staggered back, holding a hand to his head, before getting knocked down by Angel's roundhouse kick. The elder vampire groaned, trying hard to ignore the pain, before looking up to see that Spike was holding Cordelia hostage with one hand around her throat.

"Make a move, Angelus and she dies," Spike said, "Or you could just die yourself, in which case, I'll let her go and have myself a good chase before dinner."

"Let her go," Angel said, "This is between you and me."

"Well, duh, but I added her in just for something different."

Angel frowned, "Why can I smell Buffy on you?"

"Probably cause we had this sweet little make-out session earlier. Should have been there, Angel. That girl can kiss like no tomorrow."

Angel growled, just as Cordelia threw her head back, connecting with Spike's nose. He let her go, as Angel pulled Cordelia away, then kicked Spike in the stomach, before grabbing hold of him by the duster and hurling him through the window. Angel went to follow after him, but Cordelia held his arm.

"Angel, don't. Let him go. You're hurt badly and need medical attention."

"But he-"

"Let him go. He's not important."

Spike chuckled as he started to disappear into the night, "Thanks, chit. Just so you know, Angel, this isn't over. Mark my words, I'll be back. And when I do, only one of us will be walking away. Odds are it'll be me. Ciao."

He disappeared from sight, as Angel resumed his human face with a hiss of pain.

"Come on, you need to get patched up," Cordelia said.

"It'll be fine," Angel said, "I'll heal."

"Angel! I am taking you back to your place so you can be patched up! Now!"

He simply jumped in shock from the forcefulness of her voice that left no room for argument and he simply followed her from the motel to her corvette, gingerly getting into the car, as she drove him back to the mansion.

"Is it true what Spike said?" Cordelia asked, "That he'll be back?"

"Knowing Spike, it's true," Angel said, "But don't worry. Next time, I won't let him get anywhere near you."

"How'd you find me?"

"I caught his scent and I went to your house to see if you were home, but you weren't and I figured he had taken you."

They arrived at the mansion and Angel sat on the couch, removing his coat and shirt, as Cordelia went to find the first-aid kit, finding one that in her opinion was the size of a postage stamp, before sitting behind Angel and began working on his wound. It was nasty-looking, a mess of blood and flesh and she felt the urge to throw, but resisted as she did her best to clean the blood up, before taping a gauze over it. Angel was content, feeling her fingers dance across his back, sending small sparks of heat up and down his body and when she drew her hands away, he felt disappointed, his body feeling cold once more as she left the couch to put the kit away.

"Really, Angel, you need to get a bigger kit," Cordelia said when she returned, "What happens if you get really badly hurt and you need more than what you've got?"

"I'll heal," Angel replied, "Vampires mend very quickly. This will be healed by tomorrow. But thanks."

"I should be thanking you. You did save me tonight."

He gave her a small smile. He couldn't help himself, but he did.

"So, uh, thanks. And now, I'll be heading home," Cordelia said.

"You should stay," Angel said, getting up, "Spike could still be out there, waiting for another chance. Here, he wouldn't dare attack you."

"Angel, he did kidnap me right off your front lawn. And besides, he doesn't have an invite to my house, so he can't get in."

"Spike is quite the charmer. He'll get through the maids if he wanted to."

Angel could see she was wrestling with the decision and he decided not to push her any further. In honesty, he really wanted her to stay, mainly for company. Apart from when she came around, he was lonely all the time and he was getting sick of it.

"Alright, fine," Cordelia said, "I'll stay here so my vampire protector can watch over me. But I gotta call home first and let the maids know if he does show up."

As Cordelia went into the kitchen to make the call, Angel couldn't help but smile.

††††††††††

"Hello, Slayer."

Buffy rolled her eyes as she turned around to face Spike.

"Now what?"

"Just letting you know that I'm outta here. I've had my fun, but now it's time to go. But I couldn't resist saying goodbye, pet."

Another roll of the eyes, "I'm not kissing you, Spike."

"Why not? You enjoyed it, Slayer. I could tell. You wanted more."

"You're disgusting. A soulless being."

Spike mockingly slapped a hand over his heart, "That hurt, love. You know you wanna dance. What's wrong with taking a walk on the wild side?"

Buffy thought back to how Faith had mentioned a similar statement. That ended well.

"Last warning, Spike. Get lost now. I'm even letting you go."

"So, no kiss goodbye then?"

Growling, Buffy hurled the stake at Spike, but he snatched it out of mid-air with a grin, just as her fist slammed into his face. Staggering back, Spike lashed out with a backhand, except that Buffy dodged his fist and punched him again.

"Is this how you tell a guy you're into them?" Spike asked, blocking her punch, "Cause I have to tell you, pet, I accept."

"What will it take to shut you up?" Buffy cried.

"Well, you threw one option away," Spike said, "I know another one."

She punched him, her hands curling into a strangling motion and he chuckled at her frustration. Moving in, Spike dodged her fist and struck her, before catching her retaliating punch and wrapped one arm around her waist, then pulled her close, before mashing his lips to hers. Once again, she was receptive to the kiss, throwing one arm around his neck, her fingers tangling into his hair. His tongue pressed against her lips and that's when reality hit. Buffy shoved Spike back and rapidly rubbed her lips raw, as if it was going to help in erasing his taste, while he simply grinned.

"I know I'll be back for more, pet. But until then, ciao."

He turned his back and left the cemetery, as Buffy watched him go, wondering where she should stake him or kiss him again. She shook her head in confusion, wondering what the hell was happening to her and decided she had been on patrol for too long, thinking about Angel too much and she left the cemetery in the opposite direction, as Faith stepped around the side of a tomb, having watched the spectacle take place and the burning desire of jealousy and revenge swelled within her.

††††††††††

Angel woke up the next morning and looked up towards the bed, seeing that it was empty. Frowning, he left the spare room and headed down into the kitchen, where he found a note on the table,

_Angel, _

_Thanks for last night. I've got school today, so I might see you this afternoon. Who knows? I thought I might prepare you breakfast this morning. Hope you enjoy._

_Cordelia._

Angel found the labelled blood in the fridge and heated it up, while thinking about the note and how he was looking forward to seeing her, as he drank the blood.

_"Huh, cinnamon?"_

††††††††††


	16. Where I Stood 16

††††††††††

_One week later…_

"I've sent my recommendations to the Watchers' Council," Wesley announced, "And they agree. You are to be removed from duties as Watcher."

"On what grounds?" Giles demanded.

"You have a father's love for the Slayer. It is useless in this line of work," Wesley replied, before turning to Buffy, "From now on, I am your Watcher. The only thing you need to speak to Giles about is overdue book fees."

Buffy glared at Wesley with such hatred, he was forced to look away, left uneasy by the stare, as Buffy then shot a sympathetic look to Giles, who was cleaning his glasses, before heading into his office. With a final glare at Wesley, Buffy left the library, soon finding Xander, Willow and Oz at their usual lunch spot.

"Buff, why the long face?" Xander asked as she joined them.

"Giles just got fired," Buffy replied, "That Wesley guy fired him."

"Well, I didn't like him before, but now I really don't like him. I mean, firing Giles? That's like kicking out the Dalai Lama."

"So what happens to Giles now?" Willow asked.

"Well, he's still a librarian, but he's no longer my Watcher," Buffy said, "Wesley is."

"Somehow, I feel safer with Giles as your Watcher," Xander said, "Wesley, I don't know, he seems quite like the prissy type."

"Xander, he _is _the prissy type," Willow said, "Have you seen him with Faith? She's way too much for him. He can't handle her."

"No one can handle her," Buffy said, "What I don't get is why Wesley and Faith are still here. You'd think they would have left by now."

"Well, you're without a Watcher now and we do have that problem with the Mayor," Xander said, "Perhaps it makes sense for them to stay."

Willow glanced at Buffy, a deeper understanding between the pair on Buffy's displeasure at hearing that Faith would be staying in Sunnydale. Thankfully, Xander became interested in his burger to notice and Oz was just being Oz, as Buffy then put her head in her hands with a dramatic sigh.

"My life is complete."

††††††††††

"I have a present for you," Mayor Wilkins smiled.

He placed the box on the desk before the excited Faith and stepped back to watch as she unwrapped her present, before pulling a 1999 Gil Hibben Jackal knife out. He felt a warmth in his heart when he saw her eyes light up with excitement as she turned the knife over in her hands, inspecting every single inch of the exquisite blade.

"Boss, it's a thing of beauty. Thank you so much," Faith said.

"That look on your face is thanks enough," Wilkins smiled.

He had been quite surprised when Faith showed up at his office, asking for a job. Since Mr. Trick had been disposed, Wilkins hired Faith and found her to be a better work than Trick had been. For starters, she was stronger than Trick and could move around in the daytime. Not only that, but she had an inside connection to Buffy and the Scoobies. However, he learnt that Faith didn't have a good relationship with the Scoobies, especially Buffy and that she had some issues, so he had been working to help her overcome her issues and as a result, he had come to view Faith as the daughter he never had. He couldn't help it. There was something in his heart, something that he hadn't quite felt since his wife passed away decades ago, but he had come to realise it as a father's love for the young Slayer.

"So, how about we give you a chance to test that knife out?" Wilkins asked, "I've got a delicate package coming in tonight and I want you to oversee it for me."

"Sure, boss, I can do that," Faith smiled.

"That's my girl."

††††††††††

Buffy sighed. She didn't like the idea of patrolling with Faith now that things were awkward between them, but Wesley, having no idea of said awkwardness, insisted anyway. While the pair had been silent since the start of patrol, it was only increasing the tension between them and both were wondering how long it was going to take before either one finally snapped.

"Soo," Faith drawled, "How's it coming along with the Mayor? Who'da thought, the Mayor of Sunnydale being a black hat?"

Buffy shrugged, "Definitely not me. But we haven't got much really. All we know is that he's apparently immortal. We found photos of his father and grandfather, but they were actually him."

"Slayers!"

Both Buffy and Faith whirled around to face the newcomer, the latter's fingers tingling to draw her new knife tucked in her belt, but resisted and drew her stake instead. The demon smiled nervously and waved, but neither Slayer backed down from their aggressive stances and the demon sighed, holding his hands in surrender. He was a humanoid demon, with cat-like eyes and sharp fangs. He was bald on top, but had large grey sideburns and was wearing an orange shirt to match his skin and a pair of black slacks, as he slowly approached the pair.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you two were interested in the Books of Ascension? Five thick volumes, great read, best in the hands of someone who'll look after them?"

"That's great and all, but what do you want in return?" Buffy asked.

"Uh, a grand for each volume, so five G's."

Faith snorted, "Oh please, really? I thought a demon like you would want the still-beating heart of a virgin or something?"

"That's all I ask," the demon said, "Five grand and the books are yours. Think it over, talk to your friends about it and let me know. Here's my card."

Buffy took the card and handed it to Faith, as the demon waved and walked away.

"Hope to see from you soon."

"Perhaps you should tell G-man about it," Faith suggested, handing the card back.

"Perhaps I should. You coming?"

"Sorry, B, but I've got other things to do. Update me tomorrow."

She grinned and walked away, as Buffy felt relief from her leaving, before she decided to leave the cemetery herself and made her way to Giles' house to tell him about the books. And then maybe she might tell Wesley too.

††††††††††

Angel was so absorbed in his book that he didn't hear the knock at the door at first, until he became aware of the irritating noise and with a huff, he headed over to the answer the door, wondering who on earth would be bothering him at this time of the night. However, he was surprised to see Cordelia on his doorstep, but he was even more shocked to see that she had been crying recently.

"Cordelia, what's wrong?" Angel asked gently, "What's going on?"

She didn't answer straight away and looked up at him with red eyes. He could smell the salt of her tears and he felt the urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her. Before he could act it out, she had thrown herself at him, her arms going around his waist as she sobbed into his chest. Surprised at first, Angel slowly brought his arms around her back and did his best to try and soothe, while wondering what had brought her to this state. He hoped it wasn't Xander again. He just might actually kill the boy.

"Cordelia, tell me what's wrong," Angel asked.

"It was horrible, Angel," Cordelia replied, drawing back from him, "The IRS came today. Apparently, Daddy hasn't been paying his taxes since…well, ever. They took it all, Angel. They took everything. My clothes, my home, my cards, my car, all of it gone. I have nothing left now."

"What about your parents? Where are they?"

"They decided it was best for them to leave Sunnydale, but I guess they _forgot _to take me," Cordelia sniffed, wiping her tears away, "So, now it's just me."

Angel growled. He couldn't believe that her parents would just leave her like this. Who on earth would do that to their only child?

"And you don't have anywhere else to go?" Angel asked.

Cordelia shook her head, "I'd be an embarrassment to my 'friends'. You were the only one I could think of. Do you think…uh-"

"Cordelia, you don't have to ask. I'm here to help. Of course you can stay here."

She looked up, unable to fully believe that he had offered her a place to stay. Sure, she had come to him to ask if she could, but she never expected that he would allow her. To know that there was someone like him who was willing to help her brought a smile to her face, small at first, but then widened into a large grin, one that Angel was unable to help but replicate.

"Thank you so much, Angel, thank you," Cordelia cried, burying herself into his chest once more, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Cordelia," Angel said, "I'm here now."

††††††††††


	17. Where I Stood 17

††††††††††

Cordelia woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm and she briefly looked around the familiar room before remembering that she was now living at Angel's following the raid by the IRS. She felt a few tears pricking at her eyes when she remembered the moment they came and took everything she owned, before deciding to stow the memories away and focus on the present instead. Judging from the sounds, Angel was busy in the kitchen and she was curious to see what he was cooking.

"Morning," Angel greeted, "Sleep well?"

"Always," Cordelia replied with a smile and knowing that the vampire would probe further, "So, what's for breakfast?"

"I hope you like eggs," Angel said, handing her a plateful, "So, how are you going to get to school?"

"Can I borrow the Plymouth?"

Angel gagged on his blood and Cordelia took that answer as a no.

"Or you could, you know, drive me to school instead."

"I'll, uh, think about it. Haven't really driven it in years."

"First time for everything."

She finished breakfast and headed to the bathroom for a shower, as Angel drank the rest of his blood and cleaned up the kitchen, then went out to the garage and removed the tarpaulin, gazing upon his beloved car. He knew that when he would leave Sunnydale, he was taking the Plymouth with him and graduation was close, so he figured he might as well get the car going in preparation for his trip.

"So, you'll be driving then?" Cordelia asked, ready for school.

"Yeah, I guess I will," Angel replied, "Perhaps one day I could show you."

"Angel, please, I already know how to drive a car."

"Not one like this. This is a vintage classic. She needs to be handled with the proper finesse and-"

"Okay, yeah, I got it, now take me to school. I don't need a car lesson today."

She had a hint of a smile as she climbed into the car, as Angel made sure the cover was up, before driving off to Sunnydale High. The drive was silent, which was both unusual and comforting to Angel. He savoured the quiet, which was everything unlike Cordelia. He knew she could talk his ear off, so he was a little surprised to see that she was remaining quiet, figuring she was still in shock over the whole IRS drama. Oh, that and the fact that her parents had apparently abandoned her.

"So, here we are," Angel said, "Want me to pick you up after school?"

"I think the Scooby Gang are getting together after school and researching," Cordelia replied, "As they seem to do. You can come then if you like."

"I don't know, Cordelia. I mean, with B-"

"Yeah, considering she's been making out with Spike and Faith, I guess it's understandable you'd find it awkward around her. Not that you weren't anyway, but now it's even more awkward. But, if you're there, I'll have someone to talk to and it won't be so boring otherwise."

Angel sighed, "Alright fine, I'll be there, but after the sun goes down."

"Great thanks," Cordelia beamed, grabbing her schoolbag.

"Have a good day," Angel called, but she was already gone.

With a small shake of his head, Angel pulled away from the school and left, as Cordelia entered the school hall, heading for her locker, but Xander stood in her way.

"Nice new car, Cordy. Didn't think you to be the old classic type."

"Didn't think you to be the annoying, nosy type. Well, annoying we all knew."

"I was just-"

"Nothing I do is of any of your business, Harris. You lost that right when you cheated on me. Now, if you'll excuse me," Cordelia snapped, brushing past him.

Xander watched her go, determined to find out who had brought her to school.

††††††††††

"Five thousand?" Giles asked, "What happened to demons wanting the still-beating heart of a virgin? Does anyone have standards anymore?"

"That's what he said," Buffy said, "Five thousand dollars for the Books of Ascension. Even gave me a card too."

"Clearly, we must obtain these books," Wesley said, "Perhaps I could contact the Watcher's Council and persuade them to help."

"Or we could 'persuade' the demon to give them to us," Giles suggested.

"Who is the Watcher here?"

"I'll visit the demon after school and 'talk' to him," Buffy told Giles, "That way, we get the books for free and the Council doesn't waste five grand."

"Yes, for all we know, he might be lying about the books," Giles added, "Demon."

"Very well, if you insist," Wesley sighed, "Now, is Faith here today?"

"I don't know, but if I see her, I'll send her to you," Buffy said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to class. Got exams to do before graduation."

"Did you get your photo done for the Yearbook?" Giles asked.

Buffy shook her head, "Just missed out. But hey, there's still prom."

"And I imagine you're hoping on Angel to take you?"

"I…don't know…we haven't really spoken to each other lately. If he comes tonight for patrol, I might ask him."

"Very well then. Best of luck on your exams."

Buffy gave him a small 'thank-you' smile before leaving the library.

††††††††††

Angel wasn't enjoying himself.

He had gone to Sunnydale High to help with research when night had fallen and although he had Cordelia's presence to keep him sane while reading through countless books, he found himself going on patrol with Buffy to avoid the constant boredom. Now he was regretting the decision, wishing he was still back at the library, swapping small jokes with Cordelia than walking through tense silence with Buffy.

"You heard about the offer we got on the Books of Ascension?" Buffy asked.

Talking shop with Angel seemed to be the only way to get him to talk these days.

Angel shook his head, "I've never even heard of the books before."

"Oh, well, that's okay then. Turns out that when I got there, the demon had been murdered and I assume the books were taken."

"What did he originally offer you in return for the books?"

"Five grand."

Angel stopped dead briefly, "Five grand? Is that all?"

"You're not surprised he asked for money?"

"No, not really. I guess it's pretty normal these days for demons to have money."

They continued walking in silence and Buffy felt the burning itch to ask Angel. She had been watching him while they were at the library earlier and she had seen how comfortable he seemed around Cordelia. Too comfortable in her opinion, with the way the pair had been whispering in each other's ears, sharing little jokes and smiles as they poured through the books. Something was definitely up and it was wigging Buffy out, which was why she had to ask him now while she had the chance.

"Angel, I want to ask you something."

He had to resist rolling his eyes. He knew what was coming next. He had heard all about the prom from Cordelia and had a feeling Buffy would ask him.

"Look, I know we're not together, but I was wondering, would you take me to prom?"

"Buffy…I can't…I'm sorry, I mean, I love you and everything, but-"

"Are you seriously still upset about Faith?" Buffy asked, "I told you, it was a drunken thing, nothing to be taken much thought of."

"But you still did it," Angel said, "Not to mention…Spike."

"Wait, what? Okay, listen, he started it. I didn't kiss him back," Buffy said.

"Really? Because he said otherwise."

"And you're really going to believe Spike over me?"

"I know Spike. Buffy, I find it hard to currently be around you because of this."

"Then why are you?" Buffy demanded, "Why are you still here?"

"Because I'm here to help," Angel growled, "But, once this is all done, once we've defeated the Mayor, I'm leaving town, Buffy. I'm not gonna say goodbye."

While Buffy stood there gob smacked, Angel, frustrated with the entire conversation, decided he had enough and he walked away from the cemetery, leaving her behind.

††††††††††

Cordelia headed up to her room, while Angel remained in the living room, removing his coat and shirt, as he sat on the couch, thinking about his conversation with Buffy.

"Angel?"

He looked up, seeing Faith standing nearby, hands behind her back.

"Faith. What are you doing here?"

"Just came to do this."

Quick as a flash, she brought out the jar of blood, splashing it all over Angel's chest. As soon as she did, a robed figure stepped out of the darkness, chanting an ancient spell, as Angel was surrounded by a bright light and he gasped, feeling something pull at his insides, as the spell was complete, the lights and figure faded and Angel fell to the ground, panting heavily. Faith slowly approached him, wondering if the plan had worked and she grinned when a vamped-out Angel whirled around with a threatening snarl, grabbing hold of Faith by the shoulders and slamming his lips to hers.

††††††††††


	18. Where I Stood 18

††††††††††

Cordelia stood by the doorway, watching as Angel had a furious make-out session with Faith in his vampire face, before roughly shoving the Slayer back.

"Ah and just when I thought I'd gotten the taste of Slayer out of my mouth," Angelus said, one hand behind his back, "It's like cigarettes, I can't quit them."

"You should be thanking me for releasing you," Faith said.

"Sure. Fruit basket or evisceration?"

Faith lashed out with her fist, but Angelus grabbed her by the throat with a grin.

"Ah, ah, Faithy. Guess you didn't hear the stories about little old me. The things I could do. Hey, wanna know what I think we should do?"

Faith broke out of Angelus' grip and punched him in the face, as he slugged her back, before blocking her kick, catching one wrist, as she brought a stake towards his heart, but he managed to catch that wrist as well, holding her at bay.

"You know, Faith, if you wanted me to be your bad boy pet, you should have realised something: I don't play well with others, especially Slayers."

"Really? That's not the way Buffy puts it."

Faith shoved Angelus back, then knocked his legs out from underneath him, before straddling his hips and pressing the tip of her stake to his heart.

"Now, if you'll be a good boy, I'll hook you up with the big power in this town," Faith continued, "I think you'll want to meet him too."

"Really?" Angelus grinned, shifting back to his human face, "He's the one who brought me back?"

"So, what do you say? You're gonna play nice?"

"Sure. Sounds exciting."

Cordelia could only watch as Angelus and Faith kissed feverishly once more, before the Slayer got up and pulled Angelus to his feet, then left the mansion with him. She waited five, ten minutes for Angelus to return and kill her, but after fifteen minutes, she was still the only one in the mansion and she cautiously headed outside, breathing a sigh of relief to see that Angelus and Faith weren't anywhere in sight. However, Xander was currently lying unconscious on the ground and puzzled, Cordelia hurried over to him, slapping his face, noticing the forming bruise on his cheek.

"Whu-hi? Cordelia? What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question, Harris," Cordelia snapped.

"I…uh…followed you and Angel…he hit me…he's with Faith."

"That's because he's evil again. She did some spell on him and took his soul."

"We've gotta go and warn the others, especially Buffy. She needs to kill him."

Xander quickly got to his feet, holding a hand to his bruised cheek, as he seized hold of Cordelia's hand and hurried over to his car, before speeding away to the school.

††††††††††

"So, this is Angelus," Mayor Wilkins said, "I'm impressed."

"So am I," Angelus said, "To think that you're responsible for bringing me back."

"You should be thankful, Angel. Can I call you Angel?"

"No, but you can call me Master."

"Amusing. I'm sure you'll be a fine match for my Faith."

He looked over at the young Slayer, giving her a small smile, which she shared.

"She has many qualities that are quite appealing to me," Angelus said, "She also told me you're the biggest power in this town. Is that true?"

"I sure hope so," Wilkins said, "I do have my Ascension coming up, but not only that, I am also invincible until the Ascension and-"

Angelus wasn't listening. He was bored of the entire conversation and was showing this by finding the Mayor's letter opener more interesting and had taken to fiddling with the item, but when the Mayor mentioned that he couldn't be harmed, Angelus' interest was perked. Without warning, he hurled the letter opener like a dagger and the Mayor took the blade in his palm without even blinking. He glanced at the letter opener like it was something interesting to him and he then removed it from his hand, holding his palm up to Angelus so he could watch the wound fade away instantly.

"See? Invincible. Now, Angelus, let's talk business. I've heard of your affair with Buffy and now that you're free, I'm interested in what you plan to do to her?"

"Well, first, I'm going to torture her nice and long and slow," Angelus said, "Then, when I've got her begging for mercy, I'll grant her death instead."

"Ah, splendid. Faith, I think we've made a good choice with Angelus here. Now, why don't you two crazy kids go out and kill Buffy?"

"Sure thing, boss," Faith said with a full smile.

Angelus shared her smile and went to follow her, but Wilkins grabbed his arm.

"Make sure she's back by eleven."

Angelus grinned as he patted Wilkins' hand, "Sure thing, _boss_."

††††††††††

Buffy groaned and slowly opened her eyes, looking down at Angel's face and upon seeing his wide, playful grin, she knew that she wasn't dealing with Angel, but Angelus, as she remembered what had taken place. She remembered going home from the library after a few hours of training, only to find Angel and Faith waiting for her at home. They had told her they had found something relating to the Mayor and Buffy followed them back to the mansion, where Angel had knocked her out cold. Now, here she was, being chained to the wall by her ex-boyfriend.

"Hm, after all this time and we didn't think to use chains," Angelus said, "Oh well, no time to dwell on the past. Babe?"

Faith grinned, unravelling a cloth to reveal a series of knives, scalpels and other torture implements, as Buffy struggled against her chains.

"Don't fret, B. This is going to be fun for all of us, so why not enjoy yourself?"

"Faith, listen to me. This is dangerous, what you're doing, playing with Angelus," Buffy said, "Once he's done with me, he'll just kill you."

"She's right," Angelus said, fingering a scalpel, "I probably will."

"Well, I guess we'll have to drag it out," Faith said, picking up a dagger, "You know, B, I thought we had a good thing going, but then you had to go and ruin it."

"Oh my God, are you still going on about that?" Buffy groaned, "Kill me now."

"I thought I could actually be a part of something for once with you. The Scoobies, they like me, but they don't trust me. They don't accept me. I can see that, but it was your acceptance that I wanted and you couldn't even give me that much. What do you think happens when you constantly push me away? I go somewhere else."

"So you thought you'd remove Angel's soul and therefore have someone as twisted as you?" Buffy asked, "I thought you were crazy, Faith, but you've really lost it."

"Maybe I have," Faith said with a careless shrug, "Maybe it's because I've chosen the right side and you can't see that you're on the losing side."

"Oh, you've joined up with the Mayor?" Buffy asked, "Figured."

"The Mayor is the biggest power in this town and come graduation day with his Ascension, he'll be the biggest thing in the world. And I'll be there by his side, as his right-hand woman. Well, I dunno about hands, but I'll be there. What can I say, B, I'm the world's best actor."

"Second best," Angel said stoically.

Faith whirled around to face him in confusion, turning back to see Buffy holding her hands up to reveal that she had never been chained up and realisation dawned on her.

"One word, Faith: Psyched," Buffy said.

"You played me! You played me!"

She moved for the knives, punching Angel out of the way, as Buffy dived for her, punching her in the face, but Faith backhanded her, lashing out with a kick next, but Buffy parried, bringing Faith to her knees, as she then hit Buffy in the knee, bringing her down, followed by both Slayers holding a knife to each other's throat.

"Think you can do it, lover?" Faith asked, "I didn't think so."

Smacking Buffy's hand aside, Faith kissed her forehead, then rushed out of the mansion, as Angel headed over to Buffy, helping her to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy replied, "Now we know what's going on at least."

Angel nodded, detecting her reluctance to be around him and he moved to the fireplace, drawing out a very thick volume, before handing it to her.

"Here. I managed to swipe one of the Books. Take it to Giles. It could give us some clue as to what the Mayor intends to do on his Ascension."

Buffy nodded, taking the Book, before leaving the mansion, as Angel stood by the fireplace, staring into the flames, thinking about the plan he had made with Giles and Buffy after the cloaked man had approached the former Watcher following his meeting with the Mayor. Angel knew what was required of him, but he carried his part out and at least it had gotten the Scoobies somewhere. That's all that mattered. He had never wanted to do that to Buffy, knowing that damage Angelus had caused her, but he had no choice. He just hoped she could forgive him.

"Angel?"

He looked up to see Cordelia standing nearby, a look of wariness on her face. He realised then that she had known of him being Angelus and she was currently unsure if he was really Angelus or himself once more, judging by the way she was holding the stake. Wanting nothing more than to comfort her fears, Angel gently headed over to her, gently taking the stake from her hand.

"You don't need that, Cordy. I'm still me. It was all a ruse."

"Oh god!" Cordelia cried, wrapping her arms around him, "I really thought you had gone dark side again and I was really hoping you'd come back-"

"Shh, Cordy, it's okay. I'm still here."

He lifted her face up to his and before both realised it, his lips were on hers.

††††††††††


	19. Where I Stood 19

††††††††††

"What was that?" Cordelia asked.

"Uh…that was…um, well…you know…"

If only vampires could blush.

"Okay, that was, um, wow," Cordelia continued, "I didn't expect that to happen, but it did and while I'm not complaining, you're a hunk, but you're also dead."

Angel felt his undead heart sink in his chest. She was going to reject him. He knew it, he could tell from what she was going to say next. He knew what was coming.

"And while that is a little ew, I don't care about that."

Wait, what?

"You're a vampire and I accept it. All of it. But, I'm not Buffy."

His heart rose on her complete acceptance, but then sank again, even if just slightly.

"By that, I mean I won't be putting up with any crap. Zip. Zilch. Nada. None."

"Um, Cordelia, you're getting to the point, yes?" Angel asked hesitantly.

She sighed, "Look, Angel, what I'm saying is that I do like you. Always have. Just hid it very well. And I've appreciate everything you've done for me. You're really sweet. I just…I'm just not sure if I'm ready for this again."

His heart sank past his stomach. He wasn't sure why though. It wasn't like he was completely in love with her…or was he. He knew he cared about her and he treated her like a friend. Did he really love her? Angel began looking into his heart, searching for an answer. He figured he must, considering how her words were affecting him. But the answer was there and while he couldn't understand it, even though it had felt highly unlikely, truth was, he was in love with Cordelia and it felt right. For him. From the sounds of things, however, just not for her.

"Yeah, I can understand that," Angel said sadly, "Angelus. The last thing we need is for me to get happy once more and he's free again."

Cordelia cocked an eyebrow, "You really think you'll get perfect happiness with me?"

Angel shifted nervously. She was doubting herself, a first if he ever heard it, and understandable, given what she knew of his relationship with Buffy. Cordelia was unsure she would ever compete with the Slayer. However, Angel knew otherwise.

"We won't know until we try," he replied, cupping her cheek.

"Yeah, well, I'm so not up for that."

His heart sank once more and she caught the look on his face, realizing what she said and what he thought her words meant.

"I didn't mean that, Angel. I was talking about Angelus. Last year was bad enough. We all don't want a repeat performance. But, at least we know about the curse and we know what the limit is. And I can make sure you won't get near it."

Now he was starting to feel doubtful, fearing for her safety if he was reach perfect happiness and she wasn't there to stop him in time. He knew Angelus' first target would be Willow to prevent the restoration, then he'd go for Cordelia and Buffy. While he knew Buffy could handle herself, Angel wasn't so willing to put Cordelia in harm's way. He couldn't do that to her.

"I don't know. I mean, really, this shouldn't be happening. I'm a vampire and you're still in school. I could never give you a normal life, never-"

"Oh, shut up," Cordelia said, rolling her eyes, "See, that's what I was talking about. Angel, life for me is never going to be normal. I know that, seeing I know about what goes bump in the night and I've been trained by you, a vampire. Listen to me, I. Don't. Care. If I can accept you completely, I can accept everything else. Even the risks."

Angel couldn't help the wide smile that spread across his face, as Cordelia shared it with her own 100 megawatt smile, but then, her smile started to fade.

"What about Buffy?"

"What about her?"

"Well, you have this massive forever love thing going on. The last thing I'm gonna want is for you to be running back to her when she's not with Faith or Spike."

"She doesn't matter. What I mean is, I love her, I always will, but we're not meant to be together and I think I've realised that now, even if she hasn't. It's just you now."

She seemed satisfied with his answer and he reached for her, pressing his lips to hers, but the kiss only lasted a few seconds before she drew back and slapped his shoulder.

"Oh and for your little stunt, and to start our relationship off, you owe me dinner."

Angel barely suppressed the groan that followed and she raised an eyebrow.

"You walk around, pretending to be Angelus and scaring everyone and you don't think there should be punishment?

"You can think about it at school," Angel said, "I've been running around as Angelus and it was very draining. I need sleep. We need sleep."

Cordelia glared at him, but he rubbed his face, as if he was trying to stay awake and she let out an annoyed sigh, before holding her arms out.

"Alright fine, take me to bed."

Angel grinned, sweeping her into his arms and carried her laughing to his bed.

††††††††††

Cordelia was feeling quite well-rested and fresh-faced as she walked into the school hall. She thought back to last night, how comfortable and…_right_ she was sleeping in Angel's arms. She was still marvelling over the fact that she was with Angel, that he was hers now and not Buffy's, something that she had never expected, thinking that Buffy and Angel's 'star-crossed lovers' doomed romance' was a forever thing.

Guess not.

But none of that mattered. She was with Angel. They were finally together, even if it wasn't quite how she imagined it, but none of it mattered. She even felt like humming a small tune, which she did. Nothing could ruin her good mood.

Except for Xander Harris.

He was leaning casually against the wall, hands in his pockets and a whistling tune on his lips, but Cordelia could tell straight away that he had been waiting for her.

"Out with it, Harris!" she snapped before he could speak.

"You know, before Angel knocked me out, I couldn't help but notice something," Xander said, "For starters, your car wasn't there and I haven't seen it for a few days. Then, there's you arriving to school in a classic, which I know isn't you. And-"

"Is there a point to this line of boredom?" Cordelia asked, inspecting her nails.

"Something is going on with you and Angel, I just know it. If I'm not mistaken, you're actually living with him and-"

"So what if I am. It's got nothing to do with you, Harris."

"Are you serious, Cordy? You're living with Evil Dead Boy?"

"One, his name is Angel," Cordelia snapped, whirling around to face him, "Two, he actually cares about me. I know he isn't going to cheat on me, unlike someone I know. Oh and three, he's a much better kisser."

Xander's eyes widened in shock, "You're dating him?"

"Goodbye, Harris."

Cordelia walked away from her ex, a happy smile on her face, while he was left fuming, unable to understand what Cordelia saw in Angel that would make her choose to be with him. He realised it was the same line of questioning that he used to have in his head when Buffy was with Angel and even then, he hadn't come up with an answer. Tucking his hands into his pockets, Xander walked dejectedly towards the library, not taking notice of where he was really going and he only looked up when someone bumped into him. Someone female. A female with shoulder-length dark brown hair and brown eyes, clutching a series of books to her chest.

"Watch where you're going!" the girl snapped, briskly walking away, "Idiot!"

Xander couldn't help but stare after her, "Who is she?"

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Xander entered the library, finding Buffy talking to Giles over a large, open book, which he assumed to be the Book of Ascension. Wesley was amongst the shelves, going through smaller books, while Willow and Oz sat at the end of the table, talking to each other or at least, Willow talking to Oz while he listened and nodded when needed. Heading further into the library, Xander waited until Giles went into his office before approaching Buffy.

"Buff, we need to talk. There's something you need to know."

"Can it wait, Xander?" Buffy asked, mirroring his whisper, "School's about to start-"

"No, not really. I'm sorry, but you have to know."

Buffy noticed the urgency in Xander's tone and folded her arms, waiting for him to continue as he took in a deep breath. He knew Buffy had to know, but the last thing he needed was Buffy getting into another argument with Angel that would make her upset or Angel chasing after him at night with the intent to murder him. He wanted to at least graduate first before dying.

"Well, it's not really important. If you wanna wait-"

"I'm waiting now, Xander," Buffy said, "Just hurry up and tell me."

"Cordelia'slivingwithAngelandthey'realsotogether," Xander said hurriedly.

Buffy looked at him in confusion, "Any chance you can slow that down? I'm blonde."

Xander took another deep breath, "I don't really want to tell you, but I think Angel and Cordelia are together, like together together. For starters, they're living together."

He paused to take in Buffy's expression. He didn't like the looks of it. If looks could kill, he knew he would be the first to die. Graduation wasn't fast enough.

"What?" was Buffy's barely suppressed, furious reply.

††††††††††


	20. Where I Stood 20

††††††††††

"Angel!"

He jumped up from his usual position by the fireplace as a furious Buffy stormed into the mansion. Before he could even start to wonder what he had done to make her this angry, her fist had slammed into his jaw and he was knocked to the ground. Holding his jaw, Angel slowly to his feet, his eyes burning with anger as he looked at Buffy's angry, tearstained eyes. She threw her fist again, but this time, Angel blocked and palmed her on the sternum, getting some distance before holding his hands up.

"Buffy, what's going on?"

"How could you, Angel? With her? Especially with her!"

"Because I love her."

Buffy laughed, a hollow, empty laugh. She hadn't fully believed Xander at first when he told her Angel and Cordelia were dating each other, but when Xander had a serious look on his face, Buffy knew he wasn't joking. Throughout school, whenever she saw Cordelia, she noticed that the cheerleader had a bit of a spring in her step and now with Angel's confirmation, Buffy's heart was broken.

"You really think she loves you back, Angel? You think she can love you like I love you? How long before she leaves you because you're not good enough?"

"Is that why you left me? Because I'm not good enough?" Angel said, barely holding the growl out of his tone, "You walked away, Buffy, not me."

"I thought we needed a break! I didn't think it was a forever thing!"

"Sure sounded like it to me. I mean, I didn't know a break involved Faith and Spike!"

"They were both accidents," Buffy gritted her teeth, "They weren't suppose to happen. You really think I meant for both of them to happen?"

"I don't really know what to think," Angel replied, "All I know is that my girlfriend dumps me out of the blue, then goes and sleeps with another Slayer. Really, Buffy, what was I supposed to think?"

"Maybe if you didn't act like a child, you could've spoken to me about it."

"I tried, Buffy, but it was you who was acting like a child. At least with Cordelia, she's been there for me ever since. Because she cares."

"She doesn't care! Not like I do!" Buffy cried, "She's just us-"

"Like you care?" Angel shook his head, "Because if you did, you wouldn't have hurt me like you did, Buffy. And you've hurt me a lot. Have you realised that?"

"Angel, I'm sorry for what's happened, but that doesn't mean you have to go and date the biggest bitch in Sunnydale."

"Why? Because you say so? I'm not yours, Buffy," Angel said, "And for your information, Cordelia isn't a complete bitch like you make her out to be."

"Oh, you're going to tell me she has a heart? She has feelings?" Buffy demanded.

"What has she ever done to you? What is so bad about her?"

"It's Cordelia Chase! Really no explanation needed there."

Angel shook his head sadly. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to prove his point to Buffy. She was far too stubborn to see his side of the argument and it made his a tiny bit happy on the inside that they weren't together. But he didn't want to be spending his day arguing with his ex.

"Buffy, I'm leaving."

"What?"

"After graduation, when this ordeal with the Mayor is over, I'm leaving Sunnydale."

"What? Why? Because of her?" Buffy demanded.

Angel shook his head, "Because of us. For me. We can't be together. It's evident."

"But you can be with Cordelia?"

She couldn't help it. She was feeling hurt and betrayed with the fact that the love of her life had decided to move on to Cordelia. Not only that, but he had claimed he loved her and Buffy was struggling to understand how.

"Is she going with you?" Buffy asked, not really wanting to know.

"I don't know," Angel said hesitantly, "I haven't asked her."

A tiny glimmer of hope sprung up in Buffy's heart. Maybe, just maybe…

"But she has told me how she's always wanted to go to LA. She's got nothing left here. And I've always wanted to go back there."

The hope was quickly squashed, as Buffy looked up at her ex, who had a faraway look on his face, like he was recounting good memories from his time in Los Angeles. Call her a bitch, but Buffy couldn't help the next lot of words to come from her mouth in an effort to hurt him and bring him back to reality.

"She can't give you perfect happiness."

His eyes darkened to pitch-black pits of anger and Buffy shivered, a hint of fear creeping up inside her from the intense glare she was now receiving from Angel.

"Leave," he growled, his voice low and husky, "Now."

No longer wishing to be in his presence, Buffy left the mansion, as Angel retreated back to his spot by the fireplace, sinking down and staring into space, reflecting back on the conversation. He couldn't believe that Buffy had the audacity to tell him that he would never reach perfect happiness while with Cordelia. The way he figured, that was why he couldn't be with Buffy, because of that risk, but if there was no perfect happiness with Cordelia, then there was no risk and he could still be happy. However, he knew that there was a possibility he could still get to perfect happiness with Cordelia, but decided that he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

"Hi, honey, I'm home!"

Angel stood up to see a smiling Cordelia in the doorway and he realised it had been at least twenty minutes since Buffy left and he was glad that she didn't cross paths with Cordelia. Funny how time can fly whilst in brood mode. Cordelia, on the other hand, caught the look on Angel's face and her smile slowly disappeared.

"Angel, what's wrong?"

"Buffy made a house call?"

"She found out, didn't she? How did - Xander! I swear I'll kill him!"

"Cordelia, it's fine. I'm okay."

"You sure?" Cordelia asked, cupping his cheek.

Angel placed his hand atop hers, enjoying the feel on her warmth, before entwining their fingers together and moving her towards the couch, sitting down beside her.

"Cordelia…I told Buffy that I'm leaving Sunnydale after graduation," Angel said, "I'm planning on returning to Los Angeles. I just want to know: are you coming?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cordelia cried, "I can't wait to get out of here. And Los Angeles! I'll have my chance to find my calling there. Of course I'm come."

"I just wanted to know, you know, to make sure that you're all for this. That you're not going to regret a thing by leaving with me."

"Angel," she said, placing her hand on his thigh, "Where you go, I go. Face it, buddy, there's no way you're gonna get rid of me. Mind as well put with it."

Angel smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

He then leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss.

††††††††††

Buffy returned to Sunnydale High, tears running down her face, but as she reached the library, she stopped and did her best to wipe the tears away, trying to look as if she hadn't been crying at all. Crying over her broken heart and Angel's decision. Once she believed she had done a good enough job, Buffy entered the library, where everyone had gathered for another round of research. Heading straight to the table, Buffy barely acknowledged anyone as she sat down and grabbed the nearest book, opening it at random and trying to look as she was focused on reading.

"Buffy, is everything okay?" Willow asked in a hushed tone.

She looked up at her friend and slowly shook her head. Willow felt her heart break upon seeing her friend's upset state and she got up to join her, wanting to know more about what causing this, even though she had a slight suspicion as to what exactly.

"So, this is where everyone gets together?"

Everyone looked up, Giles and Wesley standing before the Scoobies as Mayor Wilkins walked towards them, a wide grin on his face.

"Where the Scoobies get together and plot their little schemes. Hoping to topple me?"

"Get out of here," Giles said quietly, with a hint of force in his voice.

"You do realise that this is all futile, right?" Wilkins continued, "I mean, nothing can stop the Ascension. Not even little bitty Buffy, the Slayer. I, too, have a Slayer. My Faith is a little upset about what happened with the whole Angel fiasco."

At the mention of her ex's name, Buffy struggled to hold back the flood of memories of their talk earlier and his words came back to hurt her once more. She clamped down hard on her emotions, doing her best to avoid waterworks and show weakness to the Mayor, knowing that he would exploit them to his advantage.

"I believe Giles told you to leave," Buffy said, "Wouldn't want to keep Faith waiting."

"That's quite a spunky little girl you've raised," Wilkins told Giles, "I'm going to eat her," he said with a small smile.

Angered, Giles drew the sword off the table and drove it hard into Wilkins' chest. He looked down at the weapon in amusement, before slowly withdrawing the sword from his body, then taking out a handkerchief and wiping the blood off the blade, before setting the sword back onto the table before a shocked Giles.

"Enjoy your last few remaining days. See you at graduation. I promise you, it's gonna be one heck of a speech."

With a smile, Wilkins turned and left the library.

††††††††††


	21. Where I Stood 21

††††††††††

Buffy opened her eyes groggily and then closed them, wishing she could drop off into a very deep sleep. She didn't want to get up and face the day, especially the night, for tonight was the Prom and she didn't have a date. She did have one in mind, but that had been completely and utterly dashed, ruined by a certain cheerleader. Buffy didn't know how long she had been lying in bed, dreading the day, but it must have been long enough for her mother to knock on the door and question her presence. With a groan of reluctance, Buffy dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, the one place where she could cry without her mother knowing.

"Honey, are you okay?" Joyce asked when Buffy entered the kitchen, "Are you worried about the prom tonight?"

"I guess you could say that," Buffy mumbled, "I'm the only one without a date."

"What about Angel? I know you aren't together anymore, but have you asked him?"

Buffy looked up at her mother, realising she didn't know about Angel and Cordelia.

"I…have, but he declined. We think we are truly over now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetheart. Is there anyone else you can ask?"

"My only other option was Xander, but he's found someone to take. A former demon too. I guess there's Wesley, but I don't like him very much."

"What about Mr. Giles?" Joyce suggested, "I'm sure he won't say no."

"Mom, it's not my wedding, it's the Prom. I'm not taking Giles."

"Well, I guess-"

"Mom, can we not talk about it?" Buffy asked, "I don't want to think about it."

"Well, alright then," Joyce agreed, as Buffy grabbed her bag and headed for the door, "Try and have a good day today, honey," she called out.

Buffy simply waved over her shoulder as she left the house.

††††††††††

Angel checked his watch for what felt like the hundredth time and sighed as he went back to his book. It had been at least an hour and a half since Cordelia went into the room to get ready for the prom and he was wondering what was taking her so long. He had already changed into his tuxedo suit and now he was waiting…patiently.

_"What is it with women taking six hours just to put on a dress? Darla was no different. Guess some things never change with time."_

"Angel."

He looked up and his jaw dropped. Cordelia gave him a smile, proud that she had managed to make him speechless. Angel drank in her appearance and found that his throat was suddenly dry and he swallow to moisten it, but to no avail. She was wearing a silver, backless dress that had a single slit up along the left leg, while her hair was artfully piled atop her head and she continued smiling as she walked towards him, as he slowly got to his feet and she fixed up his bow.

"I know something's good when you've got nothing to say," Cordelia smiled.

"You look good," Angel said, finally finding his voice again.

"Thanks, darl, so do you. Now come on, the prom awaits."

Taking him by the hand, Cordelia led him out to the awaiting Plymouth.

††††††††††

The Sunnydale Hall was packed as students piled inside with their dates, teachers were standing to the sides, some of them, including Giles, applauding the students, while a live band played on stage. Willow and Oz entered the hall, amazed at how it had been transformed for this special night.

"Oh look, there's Xander," Willow pointed out, "And his date. What was her name again?"

"I think it was Anya," Oz replied, "Any sign of Buffy?"

"No, but Angel and Cordelia are here."

The couple had arrived and began moving through the crowd, soon making their way to Willow, Oz, Xander and Anya.

"Hey guys," Cordelia greeted, "Wow, isn't this just amazing what they've done here?"

"Yeah, it really is," Willow said, before motioning to the pair, "So…uh…um."

"You two together?" Oz supplied for his girlfriend, who gave him a smile.

"Yeah, we are," Cordelia replied, taking hold of Angel's hand.

"Uh…how…um-"

"It's just one of those things that happen," Angel replied, before scanning the hall, "Uh guys, Faith's here."

He pointed out the rogue Slayer, who was leaning against the hall wall, wearing a black, low-cut dress, her hair piled up into curls, as she surveyed the crowd with a bored expression on her face. Angel looked over at Giles and Wesley talking to each other by the punch bowl, seeing that they hadn't noticed Faith yet. As long as she didn't cause any trouble, he wouldn't have to deal with her. There was no need for fighting tonight. It was the students' night, Cordelia's night and he was here for her.

"Buffy's arrived," Willow said.

As she and Oz headed over to the blonde Slayer, Angel and Cordelia made their way over to the punch bowl. Buffy briefly caught sight of the couple and a look of sadness overcame her, but she replaced it with a smile when Willow and Oz approached her.

"You finally made it," Willow said, hugging her, "You look great."

"Thanks, so do you," Buffy replied, "So, is everyone here?"

"Everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone, including Faith, who's over there and then we've got Angel and Cordelia over there with Giles and Wesley. Xander's by the stage with what's-her-name and-"

"Thanks, Will, I got the point. Now, let's try to have a good time."

††††††††††

The hellhound snarled and lunged, but it was caught by the throat, spun around and pulled close to the body, as its neck was then snapped, its body being dropped carelessly to the ground to join the other two hellhound bodies, as Spike rolled his shoulders, fixing up his coat as he shifted back to his human face.

"Bloody hellhounds."

††††††††††

Buffy was standing by the near-empty punch bowl, spooning herself a cup, ignoring the speeches that were happening on the stage. Although she had tried to have a good time, she couldn't help the wave of misery that came over her whenever she laid eyes on Angel with Cordelia and the way they looked at each other with affection.

"Is Buffy Summers here tonight?" came Jonathan Levinson's voice.

Buffy paused, turning towards the stage as Jonathan began making a speech about her, about she had strived to help and protect the other students from danger, giving the school the lowest mortality rate ever for the year and she made her way through the crowd, reaching the stage as Jonathan presented her with the special Class Protector of '99 Award, which was a small umbrella. Buffy accepted the award with a smile, looking out at the crowd as they applauded her, remembering all the times that she had saved them from moments of crisis. She looked out at Giles, seeing the warm-hearted smile he sent her, knowing that he was proud of her achievements and she sent him a smile back in return. Leaving the stage, Buffy went back to the drinks table, as Giles joined her.

"I'm sure as you know that I am quite proud of you."

"Thanks, Giles," Buffy said, looking at her award, "It's kinda cute really."

"Now that the awards are done, we shall begin the dance," Jonathan announced.

Buffy's face fell as she looked out at the crowd, watching as Angel and Cordelia moved onto the floor with the other couples, beginning the dance and she sighed in sadness. Just then, however, a red rose appeared in front of her and she looked up to see Spike standing before her, however, he was wearing a suit with a long coat and gave her a small, lopsided smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Giles hissed in a hushed tone.

"Told Peaches I'd be back," Spike replied, "And it's prom night. Decided to check the scene out. I see you don't have a partner, Slayer-"

"Need to rub it in?" Buffy murmured.

"And I figured you wouldn't, seeing as how Angelus is with Cheerleader, so naturally, I decided to be the hero again and now I'm here for a dance, Slayer."

"You must really be out of your mind if you think-" Giles started.

"Giles, it's okay," Buffy said, handing him her award and accepting the rose from Spike, "I can handle him and if he's just here for a dance, then that's okay."

"I promise you, pet, one dance, then I'm gone again," Spike said.

"No crazy stuff or I'll stake you," Buffy threatened, taking his hand.

"Wouldn't dream of it, love."

Angel kissed Cordelia's head as she rested it against his chest and he looked around, growling in his chest when he saw that Spike was here, but not only that, but he appeared to be dancing with Buffy. Knowing that she could handle him, Angel resisted the urge to go and kill his grandchilde, deciding to do it later away from public eyes and he turned his attention back to Cordelia, holding her close to him.

††††††††††

**Yeah, I threw Spike into the prom. I couldn't think of a date for Buffy and he was really the only option I had.**


	22. Where I Stood 22

††††††††††

"Wow, that was an interesting movie," Cordelia commented.

She walked out of the cinema with Angel by her side, their hands entwined as they set off towards the Plymouth. It was the following night from the prom and graduation was just around the corner. To take Cordelia's mind off the life-changing event, Angel had treated her to a movie…except that it wasn't the kind of film he'd been expecting.

"That's putting it mildly," Angel agreed, "And it's not like we can do any of that."

"Angel, I'm not worried, okay? I told you that I can keep you from reaching-"

He leaned in and kissed her, her arms going around his neck and it was the fact that they were in public that kept her from doing anything more. But God, she really wanted to. If it weren't for the curse, she'd be dragging him back to the mansion right now. Before she could give in to that urge, he drew back from her with a small grin.

"You sure about that? I don't know how long-"

An arrow suddenly appeared in his chest, just below his heart. Angel groaned, falling to his knees, as Cordelia fell beside him, looking up in the direction where the arrow had come from, just barely catching sight of a shadow as it darted away from a shop sign. Cordelia turned back to Angel, who was now groaning in pain, while several people were coming towards them, asking if they needed help.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Cordelia asked, "You should be able to pull that out-"

"There's something…on it," Angel groaned, "Cordy…mansion…now."

She nodded and did her best to pull him up onto his feet, but he was starting to lose control of his motor functions, slipping and sliding as he struggled to reach the Plymouth with Cordelia barely holding him up. She managed to put him into the car, then got into the driver's seat and started the engine. Normally, she would have been excited to drive the car, but with what seemed like Angel's life on the line, thoughts like that went out the window and she sped off towards the mansion.

††††††††††

Giles was seated at the table, going over the notes and documents of Professor Worth. A vulcanologist, he had been found murdered recently and after learning about it in the paper, Giles had deduced that Faith was behind the murder and sent Buffy to investigate. She had returned with the documents and he had been spending the rest of the day, alongside Wesley, going over them, trying to find something that would help them against the Mayor. So far, he had found that the professor had discovered what appeared to be the remains of a demon buried in a lava bed, but other than that, there wasn't much else. Giles sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. The clock was ticking, graduation day was only a couple of days away and the Scoobies had learnt earlier that the Mayor was giving a Commencement Speech at the special event, which meant that he was going to have his Ascension right there at the school. Thankfully, they had made a slight breakthrough in regards to the Ascension due to Anya, Xander's prom date and a former demon herself, explained to the Scoobies about what took place at an Ascension. However, she had been unable to tell them what pure demon the Mayor was turning into, but what she had told them was at least enough for Giles and he finally had a place to start.

"Giles! Wesley!" Buffy cried, rushing into the library, "I need help!"

"Buffy, what is it?" Giles asked, silently thankful for a break.

"It's Angel. He was shot…but the arrow had some kind of poison on it."

"Poison?" Wesley asked, stepping out of the office, "It's to my understanding that vampires aren't susceptible to poisons. They're virtually immune."

"Well, whatever it is, it's affecting him," Buffy said, "He's getting weak, he's sweating and I'm sure he was starting to hallucinate when I left."

"I'll ask the Council for help," Wesley offered, "This is most intriguing."

"I've got Willow on the books, searching for an answer," Buffy said, "But we've gotta move fast. I don't know how much time he has left."

††††††††††

Cordelia wringed the wet cloth out, before exchanging it with the damp one on Angel's forehead, as he groaned and continued mumbling in his sleep, while Willow and Oz were nearby, going through the books, trying to find anything that could identify the poison used on Angel. Time wore on, he was started to get further delirious and they were still no closer to finding a cure.

"How is he?" Buffy asked, entering the bedroom.

"He's not getting any better," Cordelia replied, "I don't know how long he'll last."

"Wesley's going to ask the Council for help. Maybe they'll have something."

"I hope so. God, I can't stand to see him like this."

Neither could Buffy, but she wasn't going to voice this to Cordelia, even though she felt the urge to do so. Instead, she was feeling a sort of guilt trip. She knew that Faith was responsible for Angel's condition and Buffy was feeling responsible for the fact that Faith had shacked up with the Mayor. She knew Faith had issues, but if she hadn't pushed her away, especially following Christmas, then maybe Faith wouldn't have switched sides and maybe Angel wouldn't be lying on death's doorstep.

"Watch over him," Buffy said, "Will, keep me updated."

She nodded, as Buffy left the mansion, making her way back towards the library. Graduation was coming, the Mayor was going to have his Ascension at the ceremony and Buffy didn't have a single plan at all on how she was going to defeat him. Now she had a dying Angel on her hands, with no word on a cure and she had Faith to deal with. Call her crazy, but she found herself briefly wishing Spike was here to help avert the apocalypse once more, but true to his word, he had left following the prom.

"What have you got, Wesley?" Buffy asked.

"I've contacted the Council and…they are unable to help," her Watcher replied.

"That's not good enough."

"It's not that they can't. They won't. He is a vampire."

"With a soul! He's helped save the world! The Council is going to ignore that?"

"It appears they are. They serve the forces of good, not evil. Regardless of the fact that Angel is good, he is a vampire and the Council refuses to help."

"Okay, you know what? I've had enough of the Council," Buffy replied, "They can't be bothered to help me when I need it, well, that's it. I quit."

"You can't quit the Council, Buffy," Wesley said, "It's mutiny."

Buffy caught the look on Giles' face and knew that he wasn't disappointed in her.

"I like to think of it more as graduation. Time to get a job, Wesley."

With a small smile to Giles, Buffy got one in return and left the library, just as her cell rang and she answered Willow's call.

"Do you have something, Will?"

"I do. The poison is called Killer of the Dead. Wasn't that hard to translate. Basic Latin really. Right now, I'm trying to figure out the cure and…oh…um…oh."

"Will, what is it?" Buffy asked.

There was a bit of static and then Oz came onto the phone.

"We've got something here, Buff. A vamp was poisoned, but he walked away."

"Yes and how did he do that?"

"I don't think you're going to like it."

"I don't care. Just tell me what it is."

"The blood of a Slayer," came Willow's answer, "He'd have to train her dry."

"Will, I need you to find me where Faith lives," Buffy said in a serious tone.

"Buffy, I don't think-"

"Will, it's Angel's life on the line. Hers is forfeited. Now find me where she lives."

Without waiting for a reply, Buffy hung up the phone and headed back towards home. She was going to find Faith and then she was going to kill her. It wouldn't hurt Angel's morals if he fed from a dead body. But this fight was a long one coming and Buffy did feel a little sadness at the prospect of having to kill her ex-lover, but she was used to it, having killed Angel last year to save the world. Didn't mean she liked doing it, but she had no choice. Angel was dying and there was only one cure.

††††††††††

Faith turned the music on, then grabbed a magazine and flopped down onto her double-size bed. She loved that the Mayor had bought her this apartment, as it was quite very nice, much better than her last, scungy apartment. Nothing but the best for her, as the Mayor had told her when he showed it to her. She had to agree. Just as she was starting to get lost in the music, it was switched off and a small smirk graced her face as she looked over her shoulder to see Buffy standing there.

"Hey, look at you, wearing the big sister's clothes," Faith said, getting off the bed and heading over to her, "So, how's Angel going? Dead yet?"

"No and he's not going to die," Buffy replied, "He needs the blood of a Slayer."

"Let me guess, you're going to give him to me? Sorry, B, not gonna happen."

"Faith, you're coming with me, dead or alive, I don't care, but you're coming."

A mixed range of emotions crossed Faith's face, before she settled on a smile.

"Alright then, lover, come give me a kiss."

Buffy punched her. Faith did a spinning backhand. The pair got into their stances.

††††††††††

**Only two more chapters to go after this one**


	23. Where I Stood 23

††††††††††

"Wait, I think I'm onto something here," Giles said, getting up from the desk, "Professor Worth found what he thought was a dinosaur, but it was something else."

He moved towards the shelves and pulled out a large book, as Xander joined him. The former Watcher opened to what he was searching for, before unfolding the page, again and again, until it was at least four pages long, while Xander let out a low whistle.

"We're going to need a bigger boat."

††††††††††

"You're not getting tired, are you, lover?" Faith grinned, "I'm just getting started."

Buffy gritted her teeth and twisted her body hard, throwing herself out of Faith's chokehold, as Faith rolled up onto her feet and struck with a high kick to the face. Buffy landed upon the TV, groaning in pain from the metal hitting her in the back, but she got back up, dodging Faith's fist and backhanding her into the stereo, destroying it. The apartment was a complete mess from the brutal fight between the former lovers, with Buffy wanting to kill Faith to save Angel, while Faith, driven by jealousy and revenge, wanted to beat Buffy into submission to show who was the better Slayer.

"You're not gonna take me, B, you're not gonna take me at all!"

Throwing Buffy against a post, Faith then drew her head back and smacked her face into the post again, but Buffy threw her elbow back into Faith's jaw and whirled around with a punch to her face. Faith staggered back, recovering in time to parry Buffy's next series of attacks and throw her to the ground. Buffy rolled back up onto her feet, booting Faith in the stomach, then doing a leaping punch that knocked her onto the bed. Faith rolled over, brushing her hair out of her face and grinned.

"Doesn't this bring back memories, huh lover?"

"Unfortunately."

Buffy went for Faith, but she kicked her in the stomach, before drawing her Jackal knife out from under her pillow and slashed at Buffy. She narrowly dodged the blade, before blocking Faith's arm on the second swing and kneed her in the ribs, then twisted her wrist, forcing her to drop the knife, before kicking it away. Faith slugged Buffy in the face, followed by a spinning backhand. She went to carry on with a kick, but Buffy blocked her leg and punched her in response, before grabbing Faith by the jacket and throwing her towards the ledge by the window. Faith took another blow to the face, falling over the railing and got up, as Buffy spring boarded over and kicked her in the stomach, slamming her against the wall. With a growl, Faith lunged at Buffy, grabbing hold of her jacket, as the two Slayers crashed through the window.

††††††††††

"Come on, Angel, hold on," Cordelia pleaded.

She exchanged cloths once more, trying to cool Angel's rising body temperature, but she knew she was fighting a losing battle and the thought made her want to cry, but she was Cordelia Chase and she wouldn't cry. Not in front of Willow and Oz anyway. Just as she dunked the old cloth into the water bucket, Angel seized her wrist, causing her to jump and gasp in surprise.

"Geez, want me to jump into the grave with you?" she instinctively scolded, before her tone became concerned, "Angel, are you feeling better?"

"Don't…let them…win," Angel rasped, "Don't let…them take…me."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let that happen. It's okay, baby."

Angel gasped and closed his eyes again, fighting against the sickness within him, as Cordelia watched on helplessly as he began to succumb to the poison.

††††††††††

A click caused Faith to look up, seeing that she had been handcuffed to Buffy.

"Handcuffs, baby? Feeling kinky are we?"

"You have no idea," Buffy replied, before punching her.

"Did I upset some of your morals, B?" Faith asked, pulling Buffy close and punching her, "Sleeping with someone of the same sex? Ooh, how bad that is."

"For your sake, it would be best if you stopped talking."

Kicking Faith in the stomach, Buffy grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, but Faith struck her with her head, before slinging her to the ground, then twisted her wrist slightly, snapping the handcuff, as Buffy got to her feet, drawing the Jackal knife, while Faith had grabbed a wooden pole and noticed her rival's weapon.

"That's mine! Give it back!"

"You want it? Come and get it…lover."

With a snarl, Faith swung the pole at Buffy, who dodged out of the way, before slashing with the knife, as Faith deflected the blade and swung the other end around, only for Buffy to duck under the weapon. She slashed again, but Faith stepped back out of the way, before leaping and bringing the pole down overhead. It snapped against the concrete floor, as Buffy landed a roundhouse kick, knocking her towards the edge of the building. Faith got up, catching Buffy's hand that held the knife.

"Face it, B, you enjoyed it. You never felt more alive than you did with me."

In response, Buffy punched her, before driving the blade into her stomach. Faith gasped, staring at her own blood as it soaked her shirt and she chuckled weakly.

"You killed me, girlfriend."

A truck was driving past the building, as Faith kissed Buffy on the lips briefly, before toppling off the edge of the building, landing on the tray of the truck in an unconscious heap, as Buffy watched her go, before leaving the building, just as the Mayor and several vampires arrived in search of Faith.

"She's not here!" a vampire cried.

"Find her!" the Mayor shouted, "I want her found now!"

††††††††††

Cordelia looked up as a battle-worn Buffy entered the room and she slowly stood up.

"How is he?" Buffy asked.

"He's getting worse," Cordelia replied, "Where's Faith?"

Buffy's silence gave her the answer. There was no Faith, which meant that without the blood of a Slayer, Angel was going to die. But Faith wasn't the only Slayer around…

"Cordelia, I think you should leave," Buffy said, "Go with Willow and Oz, go check on Giles, see if he's uncovered anything."

"You're not thinking about doing what I think you're gonna do?" Cordelia said, "Even for you, Buffy, that's pretty stupid."

"Cordelia, leave now. I won't say it again."

She held her ground, refusing to let Buffy carry out her task, knowing that it was suicidal and while she didn't like Buffy much, she wasn't going to have her death on Angel's hands. However, the rational part of her brain kicked in, telling her that without Buffy's blood, Angel would die and not wanting that to happen, Cordelia relented with a defeated sigh.

"Fine, but don't get yourself killed."

She stormed out of the room, as Buffy sat down beside Angel, stroking his sweat-soaked cheek, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Knowing that she couldn't keep stalling, for fear of his condition getting worse, Buffy slapped him.

"What?" Angel cried upon waking up.

"Angel, I need you to get up and be all vampy," Buffy replied, lifting him up.

"The cure?"

"Right here."

Knowing that he wouldn't vamp out willingly, Buffy punched him again and again, until he vamped out in anger and she grabbed him by the back of his head, pressing his fangs to her own throat, gasping as they sliced into her flesh, feeling the pull on her blood as Angel held her close and began drinking greedily. His feeding started to get more primal, taking longer draughts on her blood and Buffy saw her vision starting to get cloudy, a wave of dizziness overcoming her and she fell back against the bed, with Angel on top as he continued to drain her essence.

"Angel," Buffy pleaded, "Stop."

He ignored her, too wrapped up in his own feeding frenzy, the ecstasy of her blood driving him on, as the poison began to fade from his system, cured by her blood, which was starting to soak the sheets. Her heartbeat was crawling towards a stop, her vision was fading and she was feeling very faint, ready to give in to death, when Angel suddenly drew back with a snarl, clapping a hand to his cheek. Cordelia was standing nearby with a cross in her hand, as Angel shifted back to human and his humanity came back to the fore, horror overcoming him when he realised what he had done, just as Buffy slipped over the abyss into unconsciousness.

"Angel, we have to get her to a hospital now!" Cordelia cried.

"Oh god, what have I done?"

"Angel, now! Come on!"

††††††††††


	24. Where I Stood 24

**Final chapter.**

††††††††††

Buffy groaned as she slowly woke up, the beeping of the monitor nearby telling her that she was in the hospital, if the white walls of the room hadn't told her already. She still felt light-headed, as the memory of the night came flooding back to her. The battle to the death with Faith and offering herself to Angel to save his life. Slowly sitting up, Buffy brought a hand to her neck, feeling the raised skin where Angel had bit her and she pulled herself out of bed, heading out of the room to find Xander, Willow, Oz and Giles waiting for her, but no Angel or Cordelia in sight.

"Buffy, you're alive!" Xander cried, "We thought for sure that Angel had killed you."

"Where is he?" Buffy asked.

"I - uh, I sent him home," Giles replied, "Buffy, we have much to do. Graduation is today and we don't have a plan to defeat the Mayor. Are you fine to leave?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But, Giles, we can't kill the Mayor. He's immortal."

"Not true. He's immortal now, but when he ascends, he can be killed. Xander and I have some references to an Old One named Olvikan and we believe he is the demon that the Mayor is trying to turn into."

Buffy nodded, taking the words in. there was still a nagging thought in her mind and she wanted to ask, but before she could, Willow answered for her, "Faith's here. She's in a coma. I overheard the doctors saying that she won't wake up from it."

"Well, that's one thing taken care of," Buffy said, "Now, how about we get ourselves out of here and get ready for graduation?"

††††††††††

Once Principal Snyder had made the introduction, he took his seat, as Mayor Wilkins took to the podium, gazing out at the students before him, a certain heaviness weighing on his heart. His Faith wasn't going to be here to witness his Ascension, wasn't going to be here by his side like he hoped she would be. No, she was in a coma, never to wake up and Wilkins was likening the loss to that of a parent losing his child. So he would do this Ascension for her. He knew she would be proud. His speech had been timed so that the Ascension would begin right after it. The eclipse would happen and his vampire minions would corral the students so that he could feed on them and maintain his full power. Now, let it begin.

Buffy watched as the Mayor began his speech, bracing herself for the battle ahead. She was just waiting for the Ascension to begin so she could put her plan into action. Upon returning home, she had sent her mother away from the town so she could better focus on tonight. Joyce had resisted at first, but relented and packed her bags, before leaving, giving Buffy a room to breathe. Having spent the entire day planning this fight, even accepting Wesley's offer of help, despite her disdain for him, Buffy was starting to get impatient. She wanted it all to be over, both Ascension and graduation.

"Come on, come on," she whispered to herself.

The Mayor suddenly gasped, as the sky began to darkened and everyone looked up as the moon moved in front of the sun, completely blocking off all sunlight and turning the day into night, as the Mayor's vampires came in from behind.

"Hey!"

However, there was one thing they hadn't counted on: Angel, Wesley and parents, most of them armed and ready to fight. The vampires snarled, turning towards the newcomers, as Wilkins started to go through his transformation, his body shifting and reshaping, his clothes falling off until he had become a giant, demonic serpent, the Old One Olvikan. He let out a massive roar, as all the students got to their feet.

"Now!" Buffy cried.

The students all removed their graduation robes to reveal the weapons they had been carrying underneath, as a few students, Willow included, raised flamethrowers towards the Mayor. He roared as the flames scorched his skin, while Angel and the parents began their battle against the vampires. Wesley was taken down and out with a single hit. Xander and Oz were directing the others to load up their longbows, setting the arrows alight, before releasing them into the vampires, turning them to dust. Angel smacked down a vampire or two, keeping on eye on the others, a smile of pride coming to him when he saw Cordelia stake a vampire.

_"That's my girl."_

Principal Snyder was gone in a single bite, as the Mayor then snapped his tail, killing several students in a singe sweep. He roared, before noticing Buffy before him. And she was waving Faith's bloodstained knife. The knife that he had bought just for her.

"Look what I've got. It's her knife," Buffy said, "Also got her blood. It just slid into her like she was butter. Want me? Come and get me…Dick."

Wilkins was going to kill her. How dare she taunt him about his precious Faith. It was because of the irritating blonde that Faith was in a coma. He'd show her. He was going to eat her alive, just like he had promised to Rupert Giles. And she was going to be delicious. With a roar, Wilkins chased after Buffy, as she ran inside the school, but he opted to ram straight into the building, busting the doors off their hinges, making room for his huge form as he chased after Buffy, smashing through the walls in order to get closer to her. She was so close, he could almost taste her, as he notice her disappear into the library. If only he could smile. With a hiss of satisfaction at having cornering his prey, Wilkins burst into the library, but Buffy wasn't anywhere in sight. However, he saw that the entire room was filled with piles and piles of gunpowder and explosives, all rigged up to an outside device through the open window.

"Well, gosh," was the Mayor's last words.

Giles pushed down on the detonator, obliterating both the school and the Mayor in a single, massive explosion, while everyone watched on. Seeing their master killed and knowing that they had been defeated, the remaining vampires took off into the night, as everyone began regrouping, counting both their blessings and their losses, as the emergency services soon made their presence known.

"Here, I managed to save this for you," Giles said, handing Buffy her graduation certificate, "It's a bit scorched around the edges, but now you've finished school."

"Thanks, Giles," Buffy replied, giving him a hug.

"It's quite alright. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go see Wesley whimper."

He smiled to himself as he left to watch Wesley get loaded into an ambulance, as Buffy looked around for a certain someone. She saw him, standing between the fire trucks, the pair sharing a gaze, knowing that they were saying goodbye to both each other and their pasts, as Angel turned and disappeared into the darkness. With a sigh, Buffy found her friends gathering nearby on the front lawn of the school, as fire-fighters battled against the raging inferno that was ripping throughout the building.

"So, school's out," Xander said, "And we all lived to see it."

"Next comes college," Oz said, "Wonder what that'll be like?"

"Something like school?" Willow suggested, "Without giant snakes."

"Well, let me know how that all goes," Cordelia said, "My destiny awaits."

She shared a look with Buffy, both knowing exactly what was happening. Breaking the look, Cordelia gave everyone else a smile and began to leave.

"Cordy, wait," Xander said, "I, uh, managed to get this for you."

He pulled out her graduation certificate from his pocket, which like Buffy's, was burnt around the edges and he gave it to her. Cordelia accepted her certificate and gave Xander a brief hug in return, before waving goodbye and walking away. She reached the next block over, as a Plymouth GTX pulled up beside her.

"Need a lift?" Angel asked.

"I won't say no."

Climbing into the seat beside him, Cordelia let out a sigh as she looked at her certificate. School was finally over, she had managed to survive the perils, though just barely, and now her life in Los Angeles awaited her.

"Congratulations on graduating," Angel said, entwining her hand with his, "Los Angeles is waiting for us just beyond that horizon."

"So, what are you waiting for?" Cordelia asked, "Let's go. My career awaits."

Angel smiled to himself, sharing a kiss with Cordelia, before shifting the Plymouth into gear and pulling away from the sidewalk, as he then put the roof down so the wind could blow through their hair, which was something he privately enjoyed.

"So, what's it like in Los Angeles?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't want to spoil it for you," Angel replied, "You'll just have to see for yourself."

"I like surprises. Good surprises."

The Plymouth passed the 'Goodbye from Sunnydale' sign, leaving the city boundaries and heading out onto the open road, the pair driving away to their futures together.

††††††††††

**And I shall post up the epilogue tomorrow. Originally, this is how I wanted to end the story, but I decided to do an epilogue instead.**


	25. Where I Stood 25

Okay, this is really the final chapter. I hope it's a good enough finish to this story, which I never thought that I would ever finish, but I'm glad that I have.

††††††††††

_Three years later…_

The Plymouth GTX pulled up silently to the sidewalk, as Angel killed the engine and let out a sigh, looking out at the house he had parked outside: 1630 Revello Drive.

"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

Cordelia looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Xander invited us to his wedding and it'd be kinda rude not to go. Me and him, we're friends and it's what friends do, even if we don't talk to each other much."

Angel glanced into the backseat, "I'm having second thoughts about bringing him."

She rolled her eyes at him, looking into the backseat at their two-month-old son, Connor, who was sound asleep in his crib. Cordelia smiled to herself as she gazed at her son, still unable to believe that she was a mother, especially considering that Angel was unable to have children. She had been immensely surprised when she discovered that she had fallen pregnant, but that had come at a price, as the Angel Investigations team spent the next several months fending off threats from demons, vampires and the evil law firm, Wolfram and Hart. But Connor had been born safe and sound, while Angel had taken care of all threats, save for Wolfram and Hart.

"If I recall, you were the one who insisted on bringing him," Cordelia replied.

"I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind," Angel tried to reason, "He's only little. I really don't think the others could've handled him."

"They would've been fine, Angel. Now come on. Time to face the music."

With a sigh, Angel got out of the car and prepared the stroller, as Cordelia unbuckled Connor and set him in the stroller, before heading to the front door and ringing the bell. Angel joined her, as the door swung open and a teenage girl stood before them.

"Hey, Dawn," Cordelia greeted with a smile, "We're finally here."

"Hi, Cordelia. Angel," Dawn said, "Ooh, who's the baby?"

"He's our son, Connor," Angel replied, "Your sister home?"

"Everyone's here. Come on in."

Angel nervously stepped inside, following Dawn as she led the way to the living room, where sure enough, everyone was there…including Spike. He was leaning against the far wall and frowned when he saw the stroller Angel was pushing.

"Hey guys, we made it," Cordelia greeted.

Everyone was silent, taking in the couple. While they were familiar with Angel and Cordelia being a couple, nothing had prepared them for the bundle of joy they had brought with them, especially Buffy. Having been resurrected a few months prior, Buffy had secretly been hoping that she could get back with Angel, wanting some measure of happiness following her removal from Heaven. But when she saw the baby in the stroller that Angel was pushing, her heart sank into the recesses of her chest.

"Glad you could make it," Xander said, breaking the silence and joining the couple, "So, tell me, who is this little bundle of joy?"

Cordelia smiled, tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear, "He's my and Angel's son, Connor."

"That's impossible," Spike scoffed, "Vampires can't have kids."

"Somehow we did," Angel said, barely able to keep the growl out of his voice, "He's our miracle child."

Spike rolled his eyes, heading towards the kitchen, muttering something about needing a cigarette, as Willow, her girlfriend Tara and Xander's fiancée, Anya joined the couple, all peering into the stroller, as Connor unsuspectingly slept on.

"He's so little and cute," Anya said, "Xander, when we get married, I want a baby!"

"Whaa? Anya, maybe we should wait a while after we get married before we start having children," Xander tried to reason, "I'm not quite ready for that."

"Hey, can I hold him?" Dawn asked.

Cordelia and Angel shared a look, the former shrugging and gently took her son out of the stroller, before instructing Dawn on how to hold a baby, then gently placed Connor into Dawn's arms, watching over her, as Angel noticed Buffy hanging back. He saw her look of sadness and headed over to her, as she glanced at him.

"You look good," she said softly.

"Thanks, um, so do you," Angel replied, feeling somewhat awkward, "How you been?"

"Apart from being dead and resurrected? Fine," Buffy shrugged, "I guess congratulations are in order for you and Cordelia."

"Uh, yeah, thanks."

"So, how come you never told me about him? He looks to be a couple of months old and you didn't think to call me and tell me you suddenly had a son?"

"Look, we were all very busy," Angel said, "We were fighting threats off from all sides and it's only just now we've finally got some downtime."

Buffy didn't want to hear any more. Her dreams, her hopes had been irreconcilably dashed. She wanted a piece of the past back, but seeing now that Angel had a child with Cordelia, she knew that the past would never happen again and she felt both betrayed and destroyed. This wasn't the Angel she knew. She didn't know how, but he seemed different to her. Happier now, if she wanted to diagnose it right. Saying something about needing air, Buffy left the living room, heading upstairs to her room, as Angel watched her go with a sigh, before going back over to Cordelia.

"I'm going outside for a bit," he whispered to her.

"Not even five minutes and you're already blueing with Buffy," Cordelia said, just as Connor started to stir, "Don't be too far away, got it?"

Angel nodded and headed out the front door, going to a nearby tree and leaning against it with a sigh. This hadn't been what he'd been hoping for. He had hoped that he and Buffy could have a civil conversation, but things with Cordelia had muddled it up. He wanted Buffy to accept that he had moved on, knowing why she was upset, but he figured he must have gone the wrong way around it.

"Slayer's been pretty miserable since she came back," Spike said, rounding the tree and dusting his cigarette, "So don't feel too bad about it, Angel."

"I'm not…I was just…maybe I shouldn't have brought Connor."

"Maybe it's the right thing for her. She's been pining for you since Red pulled her out of Heaven, so perhaps your boy could be the wake up call she needs."

Angel glanced at his grandchilde, knowing exactly what he was hinting at.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Spike was able to retort in denial, but when his grandsire held the gaze, he deflated with a defeated sigh, digging in his coat for another cigarette.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Have been for years. S'why I turned up at her prom, even though I didn't realise it at the time. But she doesn't believe that I love her. I mean, we were getting somewhere, but then she died and since she came back, it's been…funny."

"I don't know if this is right, but you need to talk to her," Angel said.

"I've been trying," Spike cried, "You think I haven't tried? She shoots me down. Says that being a soulless being, I'm incapable of love. Ridiculous, right?"

"Just try harder, but not too hard. Just talk to her, but don't be an idiot about it."

Spike frowned at him, "Why the bloody hell are you pushing me towards your soul mate? Shouldn't you be staking me instead?"

Angel shook his head, "I love Buffy. Always will. But I'm not _in _love with her. I'm in love with Cordelia. We have a family. She's my soul mate, not Buffy. She's my future. Buffy needs to realise that I'm not the one for her. Someone else is. You."

"Never thought I'd see the day when the great Angelus lectures me on love."

"She has some kind of feelings for you, Spike. You just need to bring them out."

Patting Spike on the shoulder, Angel headed back inside, as Spike thought about his words, before heading towards the back of the house, spying Buffy sitting outside her bedroom window. She hadn't noticed him, as he silently climbed up the latticework, until he was standing beside her and took his place beside her.

"Sky's looking pretty nice tonight," he said.

††††††††††

Dawn looked scared at the prospect of a crying baby in her arms, so just as Connor started to cry, Cordelia scooped her son out of the teenager's arms, while digging around in the baby bag for the bottle of milk, uncapping it and putting the teat into Connor's mouth, quietening him down, while stunning the others.

"Wow," Willow said, "You've really changed so much since we've last seen you. I mean, look at you, you're a full-on mother, embracing motherhood."

"It has its moments," Cordelia said with a smile, "But it's really the best thing that's ever happened to me. Apart from becoming half-demon, but even better."

"Wait, what?" Xander cried, "You're half-demon?"

"Yes. I get visions of people in danger and Angel goes out and save them, but they had been literally killing me. And after Connor was born, I was visited by a messenger from the Powers That Be, who made me half-demon so they wouldn't kill me."

"Queen C, becoming half-demon. Usually, you run screaming from them."

"They're not all that bad. We know this one demon, he's a really great friend. And just simply the best singer I've ever known," Cordelia said, "Maybe if Angel finally proposes, he could sing at our wedding."

"Angel hasn't proposed?" Dawn asked.

"Nah. That's just so like him. He's cheap. But we really have been busy, I just don't think there's been enough time, especially now with Connor."

"I'm still curious as how vampires can have babies," Anya said, "If it was really possible, there would be vampire babies everywhere. Imagine that, especially when you go to br-"

"Okay, Ahn," Xander said, cutting her off, "We don't need to hear it."

Cordelia smiled, "It's not that bad, Xander. It's all good for the baby. Thankfully, Connor doesn't have any cravings for blood. He's just a normal human baby."

"So how do we know that it's really Angel's?" Anya asked, "I've heard-"

"Anya!" Xander cried, "Cordy says he's Angel, he's Angel. I mean, they've been together since near end of high school and-"

"Yes, I remember that. I was there at prom, remember?"

Xander collapsed onto the couch with an exasperated sigh, causing Cordelia to smile. She looked down at Connor, seeing that he had finished the bottle and she placed him over her shoulder, patting his back until he burped and began to nod off again.

"There we go," Cordelia smiled, laying Connor down, "All better now. Diaper changes are probably the only bad thing. Angel refuses to do it. He says something about his super sense of smell being very sensitive. He's such a man-baby."

"How does he sleep at night?" Tara asked, speaking up for the first time.

"He has his nights," Cordelia replied, "At most, he's really good, sleeping the entire night, but then there's nights when Angel and I are up most of the night trying to put him to sleep. Lorne's the best at putting him to sleep, with his crooning and all."

"So, Cordy, is it really true that Wesley is working for you?" Willow asked.

"Actually, he's the boss. Angel had some issues last year and left the business, so Wesley took over and he's been the boss ever since. But he's a really good friend and he doesn't have much of a stick up his ass. I'd trust him with my life."

At that moment, Angel came inside, sitting down beside Cordelia, but not before kissing her atop her head, his arm going around her waist and pulling her close.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Is now," he replied with a small smile.

††††††††††

Connor stayed quiet throughout the wedding, which went off without a hitch and when Xander and Anya were pronounced as husband and wife, Cordelia glanced at Angel, sending him a silent message that caused him to swallow, setting a mental note to start searching for a ring once they got back to Los Angeles. At the reception, Cordelia chatted with Willow and Tara, while Angel kept to himself, watching over his son, who slept soundly in his carrycot. Soon, it was time for the newlyweds to begin their dance and afterwards, other couples joined in, with Cordelia literally dragging Angel to the floor after Dawn promised to keep an eye on Connor. During the dance, Angel noticed that Spike had managed to get Buffy onto the floor and the two vampires shared a quick nod. Before too long, the reception finished and everyone began their journey home, as Buffy made her way over to Angel and Cordelia. The couple shared a quick word, as Cordelia picked up Connor in his carrycot and headed outside to wait for Angel, as he turned to Buffy.

"So, you're heading back to Los Angeles in the morning?" she asked.

"Yeah, we will be," Angel replied, "I don't know when we'll see each other again."

"Perhaps when you and Cordelia get married?"

"Unless you and Spike get to the altar before us. You should give it a chance, Buffy," Angel said when she began to make a face, "Spike cares about you. That's something. I know Spike and he would do anything for you. You don't get many guys like that."

"No, I guess not," Buffy said, "I suppose you're right. I mean, you're really happy with Cordelia and I should let you guys be with that. I'll find my own happiness."

"I hope you do, Buffy."

He stepped forth and gave her a hug, which didn't last long in her opinion, as he then left the building, rejoining Cordelia as Buffy watched them head off into the night, saying goodbye to her past, knowing that it was time to move on.

_'Cause I don't know who I am, who I am without you._

_All I know is that I should._

_And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you._

_All I know is that I should._

'_Cause she will love you more than I could._

_She who dares to stand where I stood._

_Oh, she who dares to stand where I stood._

††††††††††

Annnd finish! I hope you guys enjoy this epilogue and I would like to say thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favourites. I know it has been a long time, but the end is finally here. So thank you once more and farewell.


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